Roger Torrey was a "Black Mask" pulp magazine mystery writer, but "42 Days for Murder" was first published as a book by Hillman-Curl in 1938.

42 Days For Murder

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Torrey, Roger

Mystery

Dennis McMillan Publications

42 Days for Murder

Black Curtain Press

Reno, 1938. A wide-open little town rife with an assortment of gangster/politicians running the gambling, prostitution, dope, and, of course, "easy divorce" rackets. San Francisco detective Shean Connell is hired to clear up a divorce case in the charming burg, but soon finds himself in the thick of a frame-up, after having the tip of his ear shot off while viewing the divorcee's corpse in the local morgue! Originally published by Hillman-Curl as a "Clue Club Mystery" in 1938, 42 Days for Murder was the only novel published by Black Mask writer Roger Torrey during his lifetime. Torrey was one of the "mystery men" of the Mask (along with Paul Cain and several others), in that very little is known about his life, although, like his private eye hero Shean Connell, he was apparently an inveterate gambler, alcoholic and barrel-house piano player, and he supposedly died in the arms of his mistress somewhere in Florida in the late 1940s. In any event, he could write a hell of a hard-boiled tale, and aficionados of the genre will get a kick out of this fast-paced and complexly plotted novel.

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Disruptive Pub

Thrillers & Suspense

Black Mask

Phantom Detective - 06/46: Adventure House Presents:

Wallace,Robert

Tompkins, Anthony

Rice, Wayland

Action & Adventure

Adventure House

Lady In The Lake by Roger Torrey That small town appeared deader than the diary-keeping female who'd gone for a swim with a steeL rail tied to her feet—but Phelan's private-detecting eyes came wide-awake when he tied into the skein of cuttin', bashin' and bushwhackin' which were proof of the town's very deceptive appearance indeed!  Kill Me Again by Laurence Donovan That Bolivian mining stock was lalling and rising curiously in value, and corpses were falling without arising. It occurred to Joe Lake and Bumps McCarthy, the two newspaper snoops, that there must be a very menacing connection in those facts—and dynamite danger for themselves!  Gold Brick by Robert A. Garron It seemed to Virginia as if her dad just didn't want her to have any fun. She had a whole slew of boy friends, all of whom feared her father just as much as he disapproved of them. But the whole world changed for Ginny when she found her father with a bullet hole in his cheek, and immediately they carted her off to jail.  7x10 112 pages Cover Artist: H.J. Ward Adventure House Published: 09/17

High Adventure #156

Garron, Robert A.

Donovan, Laurence

Maynard, R.T.

The greatest detective magazine of all time is back for another collection of the best in hard-boiled fiction. Featuring classic material from the vaults of Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Fiction Weekly, and other high-quality pulp magazines. This issue issue is headlined by an all-new story by Carroll John Daly, the creator of Race Williams.

Black Mask: Spring 2017

Fisher, Steve

Byrne, Bob

Gruber, Frank

Cox, William R.

Sale, Richard

Daly, Carroll John

Plunkett, Cyril

Clark, Dale

Chambers, Witman

Altus Press

In 1933 author Roger D. Torrey broke into the fabled group of authors known as The Black Mask Boys with his first of several series characters for Black Mask magazine. In this series, Dal Prentice patrolled the streets of Magna City with his equally hard-boiled partner, battling crooks, racketeering, and other underworld crime. These are some of the most vivid, gritty detective stories to ever appear in Black Mask magazine, written by one of the most popular writers to see print in that fabled detective title. Volume 1 contains the first half of the Dal Prentice series, including a rare Prentice short written for a contest.

The Case-Hardened Samaritan: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Dal Prentice, Volume 1

Shean Connell, a private detective, sets out to clear up a divorce case in Reno, and finds that he has been framed by the man who is boss of the town's criminals. After he views the woman in the morgue and has the tip of his ear shot away, he realizes that murder and not divorce is being plotted. Why wouldn't Tod Wendel's wife speak to him? Between the wealthy society woman and her husband stood the forces of the underworld-gangsters, white slavers, dope runners-and Shean Connell breaks the case in this hard-hitting, lusty mystery novel. Originally published in 1938.

Murder Knows No Boundaries. . . . Acclaim for the work of Roger Torrey “Torrey sets a speedy pace.”—Hillman-Curl “Almost anything can happen and plenty does.”—New York Post “Torrey’s stories have dynamic punch.”—Joseph Shaw, editor, Black Mask Crime comes in many forms, great and small—but no crime compares to murder! The floors runs red as Roger Torrey’s classic hard-drinking private eyes sleuth their way through eight short novels and one shorter work, including: "Murder With Music," "Beginning With Murder," "Double Trouble," "Foreign Affair," "Winner Take Nothing," "Death Has An Escort," "Three Women and a Corpse," "Preview to Murder," and "A Death In the Family." With a ground-breaking introduction by Richard A. Moore, presenting a vast amount of new biographical information about Roger Torrey.

Death Has An Escort

Black Dog Books

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