A Devil for O'Shaugnessy/ The Three-way Split

A DEVIL FOR O'SHAUGNESSY Tolbert O'Shaughnessy has been working the short con for years. He's not very good at it he's a grifter with a conscience, a terrible combination. Just the thought of bilking old ladies out of their life savings sends him to the brandy bottle to ease his pain. But Miriam has a con that's worth too much money to ignore. Her cousin, Joseph Lancaster, has been away for years, and she has found out that he died in England. Their rich grandmother doted on Joseph, but doesn't know about his death. All Tolbert has to do is convince Grandma that he's Joseph returned, quietly smother her in her sleep, and the inheritance will be theirs. A fine plan if Tolbert can keep his conscience from getting in the way!

THE THREE-WAY SPLIT Jack Holland needs a break. His girl Sally is pressuring him to get a real job. His freeloading old man, Sam, is coming to visit--indefinitely. He needs dough. While taking some obnoxious tourists out in his boat one afternoon, he has to dive overboard to retrieve a tossed necklace, and discovers an old sunken ship instead. Could there be treasure inside? This could be the chance he's been looking for. But then some killers come to town looking to settle a debt with Sam, and things get complicated. And soon it's a race against time to see who gets the treasure first.

Gil Brewer was born Nov. 20, 1922 in Cauandaigua, NY. After leaving the army at the end of WWII, he joined his family who had settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. There he met Verlaine in 1947 and married her soon after. Brewer started by writing serious novels, but soon turned to paperback originals after a sale to Gold Medal Books in 1950. At his height, he was a brilliant writer of sharply defined noir thrillers, usually involving a male protagonist driven to crime by the sexual allure of a young siren. But unwilling to promote himself, his career took a turn for the worse after a mental breakdown, and a long decline into alcoholism. Brewer died on Jan. 9, 1983.