This is a newly revised edition of the famous crime novel NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH. For the first time this edition combines the original text from 1939 with the revisions made by the author in 1961. The novel is now widely regarded as one of the top thrillers of the last century. When it was originally published it pushed the social boundaries of the time through its relentless exploration of crime and sexual exploitation. Unlike most crime novels of that era, the characters are rich, deeply realized portraits of those who lived on the fringes of society during the Great Depression -- namely the gangsters, their women, and the men who hunted them. The novel broke sales records when published and has gone onto to sell over four million copies worldwide. Historically important, such literary greats as George Orwell and Graham Greene instantly recognized its merits. In a lengthy essay that securely placed NO ORCHIDS in an honored position in crime fiction, George Orwell wrote that, "In a book like NO ORCHIDS one is not, as in the old-style crime story, simply escaping from dull reality into an imaginary world of action. One's escape is essentially into cruelty and sexual perversion...a brilliant piece of writing, with hardly a wasted word or a jarring note anywhere." Set in the heartland of America during hard times, the story reveals itself along the back roads, roadside diners and street corners of a jaded, threadbare society - a truly unnerving novel updated for a new generation of readers ready to discover the world of James Hadley Chase.

No Orchids for Miss Blandish

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

CHASE, James Hadley

Mystery

Bruin Books, LLC

James Hadley Chase (René Brabazon Raymond) was born in London in 1906 and started his career as a bookseller. With the aid of a dictionary of American slang and reference books on the American underworld he wrote his first novel, NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH, over six weekends. The book achieved remarkable popularity and became one of the best-sold books of the decade. FLESH OF THE ORCHID is a wild, thrill-ride of a sequel to NO ORCHIDS. Taking up the story 22 years later, the central figure is once again a Blandish girl, but Carol Blandish is not the helpless victim that her mother was. Indeed, she is a volatile blend of simmering sexuality, strained innocence and hair-trigger cruelty. Her explosive outbursts of savage violence make her a force to be reckoned with. Escaping from a mental institute during a raging storm, and definitely off her meds, Carol Blandish is soon pursued by a seedy cast of characters who all want a piece of the Blandish fortune. The novel bristles with crazy plot twists, edge-of-the-seat suspense and intriguing low-life's who mix it up for an immensely enjoyable read.

Flesh of the Orchid

Written late in his career and while at the height of his powers, KNOCK-THREE-ONE-TWO is Fredric Brown's tour de force of suspense. Taking place over the span of a single evening, we find a city enflamed by fear. A serial killer is on the loose, and while the maniac ties the city into knots, the lives of ordinary citizens are drawn into an inescapable spiral of greed and chance. Brown, purveyor of the surprise ending, does not disappoint. Step now into a world of shadow and anxiety. You need only knock 3-1-2.

Knock Three-One-Two

BROWN, FREDRIC

"Death and Taxes" is the first novel written by David Dodge, who would go on to write some of the finest novels in the mystery genre, including the legendary "To Catch a Thief." Often compared to Dashiell Hammett, Dodge's urbane writing style stands the test of time. His novels are fresh, fast-paced and witty. "Death And Taxes" was originally written on a bet with his wife and it draws extensively from his experience as a tax consultant. Who'd of thought the subject of tax fraud, when mixed with murder, romance and binge drinking, could be so entertaining. "Death and Taxes" has one of the funniest drinking scenes in all of literature-not to be missed, and Whit Whitney, tax man turned detective in 1940's San Francisco, is one of the most endearing characters in crime fiction.

Death and Taxes

Dodge, David

TO CATCH A THIEF is David Dodge's most famous novel, and rightly so. Alfred Hitchcock firmly cinched its place in the annals of crime fiction by adapting it into an Academy Award winning film starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The story centers on John Robie, American expatriate and skilled gymnast, who once-upon-a-time was Le Chat, the famous and elusive cat burglar who worked the South of France. The legend of Le Chat grew with each crime. Following the war, Robie retires to a quiet life in France and vows to leave his past behind. His retirement is shattered when a copy-cat burglar commits a string of robberies that puts the police on Le Chat's trail again. Robie must catch the phony Le Chat before the police catch him. The Bruin Books edition of TO CATCH A THIEF is the first publication of the novel in many years and includes an introduction by Randal S. Brandt and afterword by Jean Buchanan. At last this beloved mystery is back in print.

To Catch A Thief

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Prester John is an exceptionally entertaining example of an early 20th century adventure story. Its hero is a young Scotsman who travels to South Africa to make his fortune. Expecting to settle down to a quiet life as a storekeeper, he instead finds himself embroiled in a hotbed of social unrest and violence. Part mystery, part travelogue, part spy novel, part treasure hunt, it has all the makings of a crackling good read. It is firm proof that John Buchan (The Thirty-Nine Steps, Green-mantle, and so many other novels of intrigue) remains a storyteller of the first order. Prester John is a thrilling story, full of daring heroes and wondrous villains—a forgotten gem of early 20th Century literature.

Prester John

Buchan, John.

Action & Adventure

Although DELIVER ME FROM EVA opens with the breeziness of a mystery/romance novel typical for the 1930’s & 40’s, it quickly descends into a tale of madness and depravity. Mark Allard, a young lawyer with bright prospects, has just married Eva. It was a whirlwind romance and following the nuptials he finds that he knows very little about his bride. After an all too brief honeymoon in San Francisco, Mark drives Eva to her family’s estate in Pasadena so that he can meet his new in-laws. Mark is instantly struck by the cool, beguiling beauty of Thalamus. Expecting a pleasant weekend, he instead finds himself prisoner of a clan of brilliant New Age whackos who seek eternal enlightenment through addictive chiropractics. At turns grotesque, unpredictable and darkly humorous, DELIVER ME FROM EVA is regarded as one of the best horror/ crime novels of the 20th Century. It is a non-stop, head-spinning, cover-to-cover read.

Deliver Me From Eva

BAILEY, Paul

Genre Fiction

All-star athlete Harry Wilde retreats to a remote rural village to escape the pain of a failed marriage and the recent loss of the national basketball championship. Seeking only peace of mind, he soon finds himself entangled in an intense and demeaning love affair with a strange and sullen woman whose primal power holds control over his most basic desires. Unable to stop himself from wandering down a path of darkness, the only thing that will save him is his instinct for survival. With its menacing undercurrents of psychological tor-ment, HOUSE OF FLESH crosses the boundaries of crime fiction and strays into the murkier depths of horror. This landmark crime novel is available again for the first time in many years.

House of Flesh

Fischer, Bruno

One of the best crime novels of the 50’s, and a sublime example of American Noir, is BLACK WINGS HAS MY ANGEL by Elliott Chaze, whose earlier war novel, THE STAINLESS STEEL KIMONO, was much admired by Ernest Hemmingway. Chaze took the standard dime store crime novel and turned it into an edgy piece of literature. His use of complex sentences, long descriptive passages, and characters who continue to surprise us throughout the narrative prove that the American crime novel was capable of greater depths. The story follows the turbulent love affair of a pair of uprooted misfits, an ex-hooker and an ex-con, who are brought together by a mutual love of money. Adrift between the cracks of society, they form a bond that is less like love and more like fate. Left on their own they would have led lives of criminal mischief, misdemeanor and petty crime, but together, embarking on a dark journey across the American landscape, they create absolute mayhem.

Black Wings Has My Angel

Chaze, Elliott

Al Colby, an American expatriate working as a private investigator in Mexico City, is contacted by an old acquaintance in Los Angeles who hands him a cold case involving a missing person. Robert Parker’s mysterious disappearance is tying up a family fortune and is enraging his abandoned wife who can’t tap the family coffers without proof of death. The case sounded routine enough, right up his alley, but the trail for the missing Mr. Parker leads Colby down a rabbit hole winding through a number of South American countries, each one a dead end. Running out of funds and clean shirts, Colby is ready to throw in the towel, but the stakes are too high and his client, Mrs. Parker, a first class bitch who only wants her money freed up by her husband’s death certificate, fuels the search with additional cash. The deeper Colby digs the more entangled he becomes in a decades old mystery of misplaced loyalties, family secrets and riches in nitrate ore. The Long Escape is the first of a three novel series featuring the rootless detective Al Colby and marks a decided departure for David Dodge, who’s previous novels followed the exploits of Whit Whitney, a buttoned-down San Franciscan accountant more into champagne and sleek cars than Colby’s tequila shots, balmy shores, and fiery Latin women. The Colby novels are enriched by authentic detail and exotic locations and set the stage for Dodge’s best known work, To Catch a Thief.

The Long Escape

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