Homicide Highball — Robert Leslie Bellem

Robert Leslie Bellem was a prolific American writer who wrote in a variety of genres and for many pulp magazines, especially those of Culture Publications that included mastheads such as "Spicy Detective," "Spicy Adventure," "Spicy Western," and "Spicy Mystery." After the demise of the pulps, Bellem started writing for television and contributed scripts to shows such as "The Lone Ranger," "Adventures of Superman" (1950s version), the original Perry Mason, "77 Sunset Strip," and others. His most famous creation was the hardboiled detective Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, who narrates the stories in the first person in a racy, slangy style that made them very popular at the time. Bellem also wrote at least two novels, of which the best known is "Blue Murder." "Homicide Highball" is considered among the best works of Bellem, and its setting has been compared with works by Ellery Queen. The novella length story appeared in the October 1943 issue of "Hollywood Detective." As an added bonus, this book presents one of the Dan Turner's graphic short stories. This one, "The Murdered Mummy," was published in the January 1943 issue of "Dan Turner-Hollywood Detective."