Young, beautiful blonde Suzy Carr is head over heels in love with lawyer Harry Sloan, so in love that she doesn’t see how sleazy he is. Harry has a lucrative racket going, setting up quickie divorces when both parties want out of the marriage. Suzy makes a perfect foil for this shady scheme, letting Harry use her as “evidence” of adultery, courtesy of pictures taken by photographer Joe McBride, who’s actually a decent guy despite the racket he’s in. Then Harry’s actual mistress, wickedly beautiful femme fatale Camilla, cooks up a plan that involves getting rid of her unwanted husband, and it’s nothing as simple as a plain old divorce . . .
LOVERS DON’T SLEEP is another hardboiled romance novel by Lorenz Heller writing as Laura Hale, first published by Falcon Books in 1951 as part of the Exotic Novels line and recently reprinted with WILD IS THE WOMAN in a double volume by Stark House. I really enjoyed WILD IS THE WOMAN and LOVERS DON’T SLEEP is equally as good. The story races along at a very enjoyable pace, and Heller does a great job with the characters. Suzy isn’t all that bright, but she’s a very sympathetic protagonist, and Joe is a big, likable lug who’s clearly in love with her and wants to get both of them out of the mess in which they find themselves. Harry and Camilla are both suitably despicable. Heller orchestrates the twists and turns of their various relationships with great skill and the storytelling talent that keeps the reader flipping the pages.
Both novels in this double volume took me by surprise because I hadn’t really cared for the Lorenz Heller novels I’d tried in the past. Clearly, the fault in that lies with me, because based on WILD IS THE WOMAN and LOVERS DON’T SLEEP, he was a top-notch writer, a little reminiscent of Orrie Hitt but oriented more toward crime fiction. I give this double volume a high recommendation. It’s available in e-book and trade paperback editions on Amazon.
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