The Cover Girl Killer: A Hobart Lindsey/Marvia Plum Mystery - Hardcover

Lupoff, Richard A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031213455X ISBN 13: 9780312134556

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1995

Synopsis

When a suspicious helicopter crash sends millionaire P. Vansittart to the bottom of Lake Tahoe, International Surety's ace claims adjuster Hobart Lindsey is on the case. His job: find the girl in Vansittart's policy, "the woman on the cover of Death in the Ditch" - a hardboiled novel of the early fifties.
But did this beautiful model ever exist? Or was she just the creation of another long-forgotten pulp artist's lurid imagination?
In this, the fifth novel in the series that began with The Comic Book Killer, Lindsey and his girlfriend, Berkeley detective Marvia Plum, are sent headfirst into the dusty world of vintage paperbacks on a search that turns up an old nemesis, an old love triangle, and the sinister side of America's Golden Age.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Having plumbed the worlds of classic cars, comic books and old movies, Lupoff turns in his fifth Hobart Lindsey and Marvia Plum mystery (after The Sepia Siren Killer) to rare pulp paperbacks. While insurance-claims adjuster Hobart and Berkeley, Calif., cop Marvia are on a boat in Lake Tahoe with Marvia's son Jamie, they witness the crash of a helicopter, in which millionaire Albert Vansittart dies. In fact, Jamie captures the accident and the rescue of the pilot on video. It happens that Hobart's company, International Surety, carried Vansittart's policy, which names, as its beneficiary, the "girl on the cover of Death in the Ditch." Hobart's search for the mystery woman takes him into the world of rare paperbacks and short-lived publishers?and to New Orleans, where the story becomes one of love, sacrifice and the ideals of the Americans who fought against fascism in Spain. Eventually, his search leads Hobart to his old nemesis, Nathan ben Zinowicz, and a brutal conclusion. Amidst the mostly loud and obnoxious cast, Hobart remains likable enough to carry the reader through Lupoff's occasionally labored history lessons.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Lupoff, whose interests range from comic-book covers to World War II flying aces, uses his wonderfully eclectic knowledge to produce mysteries that are as informative and suspenseful as they are charming and nostalgic. Insurance agent Hobart Lindsey is off on another challenging adventure when a helicopter bearing billionaire business tycoon Albert Vansittart crashes into Lake Tahoe. The eccentric Vansittart has left all his money to the "girl on the cover of Death in the Ditch," and it's Lindsey's job to find the mysterious heiress. With the help of policewoman Marvia Plum, Lindsey discovers that Death was an obscure paperback produced by a small publisher in the fifties, but even with this information, finding the cover girl is a dangerously tricky task. As usual with Lupoff's mysteries, once the plot takes off, readers will find themselves on a suspenseful roller-coaster ride. A good pick for all well-rounded mystery collections. Emily Melton

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 031213455X
• ISBN 13: 9780312134556
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 280