Marta Selfron is the desperate blonde of the title in this novel
by Lorenz Heller, published originally by Beacon Books of Australia in 1960
under the pseudonym Laura Hale and just reprinted by Stark House. As a young
woman barely out of her teens, Marta married the wrong guy, and in order to get
away from him, she wound up committing a crime. Now her ex-husband is not only
blackmailing Marta, he’s also stalking her. When she meets tough, handsome
private detective Dirk Delgar, she thinks maybe she’s found a way out of her
problem, but first, she’ll wind up enmeshed in a web of robbery and murder.
As always, Lorenz Heller spins a fine, well-written tale in DESPERATE BLONDE, a revised version of which was published in the United States by Beacon Books as THE MARRIAGE BED in 1962.
Considering its pedigree, there’s really very little sex in this book, and it’s
not graphic at all. Some nude swimming is about as racy as it gets on the
actual page. No, this is a pure suspense yarn, as Marta, with the help of private
eye Dirk, tries to get out of the trouble in which her bad decisions have
landed her. Heller was really good with setting, character, and pace, and he
keeps the reader flipping the pages to find out what’s going to happen. A few
plot twists near the end help make for a satisfying conclusion.
I don’t think this is quite as strong a novel as the others I’ve read by
Heller, but it’s a very solid, entertaining book and well worth reading. It’s
available in trade paperback and e-book editions on Amazon.
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.
Stark
House has reprinted a number of novels by Lorenz Heller, and they have a new
double volume coming out that contains two of Heller’s novels originally published
under the pseudonym Laura Hale. These are hardboiled romance novels, I guess
you’d call them. I just read WILD IS THE WOMAN, published in 1951 as a Rainbow
Book, one of those stapled, digest-sized lines of racy novels that were popular
for a while in the early Fifties. This tale of a young woman becoming a
burlesque dancer so she can get revenge on the crooked politician responsible
for sending her brother to prison for a crime he didn’t commit is just
terrific. It races along like a backstage musical combined with a gritty crime
yarn. I had a great time reading it and give it a high recommendation. I’m
looking forward to reading the other book in this double volume, which is
available for pre-order on Amazon, and sampling more of Heller’s work.
