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Mourn the Hangman
Blake opened the door and took his first step into Hell. He had come to his apartment with a lilt in his walk, pleasantly burdened with candy and flowers. This was to be a reconciliation with his wife, Stella. Stella, who hated private investigators�“private snitches,” she called them.
So he had resigned from the firm of Bricker and Blake: Investigators. Too bad it had to be in the middle of the tough Arrenhower job. But Stella was worth it.
The room was in shambles. There was Stella, battered and bloody, sprawled on a chair. She had been brutally bludgeoned to death.
I’m dead, Steve black thought, and I can’t cry. Who will I cry for? For Stella, who’d never hear me now? Maybe I’ll cry for the man who killed her. Maybe I’ll cry for him when I find him�and maybe God himself will cry for him before I’m through...
156 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1952
4 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Harry Whittington
179 books42 followersHe also wrote under the names Ashley Carter, Harriet Kathryn Myers, and Blaine Stevens, Curt Colman, John Dexter, Tabor Evans, Whit Harrison, Kel Holland, Suzanne Stephens, Clay Stuart, Hondo Wells, Harry White, Hallam Whitney, Henri Whittier, J.X. Williams.
Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 11, 2024
06/2018
From the early 1950s. The hero is described as rugged. A revenge plot and only an okay mystery, but I liked the sodium pentothal scene, and the part with Sammi the waitress telling her sad story.
From the early 1950s. The hero is described as rugged. A revenge plot and only an okay mystery, but I liked the sodium pentothal scene, and the part with Sammi the waitress telling her sad story.
September 19, 2022
"Mourn the Hangman" is a man-on-the-run/innocent guy accused of horrible murder story. Whittington does a great job of getting inside the main character's head and how his whole world turned into a hell ride when he walked in and found his beauty-contest winning bombshell of a wife dead. You get a real keen sense of how alone Steve Blake is and how desperate he feels, desperate enough to visit the jealous first husband and see if he did it. This is very pulpy and it's got that desperate crazy feel as if the writer is going to take you over that edge where Blake could simply lose it.
There are some respects in which Whittington was not, however, fully on his game in this one, and some of the investigating Blake does loses the intensity of the first chapters.
It's not among Whittington's greatest hits, but it's worth picking up. After all, even imperfect Whittington is better than most of what's out there.
There are some respects in which Whittington was not, however, fully on his game in this one, and some of the investigating Blake does loses the intensity of the first chapters.
It's not among Whittington's greatest hits, but it's worth picking up. After all, even imperfect Whittington is better than most of what's out there.
September 2, 2018
One of the classic themes of noir is the person wrongfully accused of a crime they didn't commit. Harry Whittington wrote a plot like this dozens of times in his career. And he was one of the best at doing so. This novel is from 1952, the same year that saw at least 3 other Whittington paperbacks published. Four novels in a single year gives you an idea of the pacing he put into these books. This story is a 36-hour-long fever dream about a private detective, Steve Blake, on the run through Gulf City Florida looking for his wife's killer. Of course, the cops think he's the killer. His former partner has turned on him and so has his former client. His only chance at getting out of this mess alive lies with one of those nightclub babes, and noir angels, Sammy Anderson. This has it all, whiskey, guns, fights, car chases, drugs, perverts and retribution. It's probably not the best novel by Harry Whittington, but it's a good example of the sort of novels he pumped out throughout the 1950's, before he turned to writing potboilers in the 60's and 70's. It was also fun seeing my hometown of Tampa and Ybor City represented here. Who knew there was a handy cab on the streets any time a fella needed one back then?
July 31, 2020
The edition I read was Graphic Mystery No. 46, a paperback original first published in 1952. A Private Investigator arrives home to find his wife murdered. He immediately puts his worst judgements to work and finds himself suspect number one for the crime. He spends the rest of the novel avoiding arrest and desperately trying to discover who killed his wife. The book is well written, but the PI reviews and reflects on his emotional trauma too many times. Without all the redundancy the pacing and urgency would have made a stronger novel.
June 4, 2020
This is a pulp mystery originally published in paperback original in 1952. It is written by the extremely prolific pulp writer Harry Whittington and is an early book in his writing career. Some people have called Whittington the King of Pulps.
The setting of the story is in Gulf City and Tampa in Florida in early 1950s. The story is about a private detective Steven Blake who found his estranged wife murdered when he came home from an out of town trip. Instead of calling the police, Blake left the crime scene and ineffectively proceed to hunt down the killer to seek revenge. At that time, he was working on a case where two government contractors were each accusing the other of wrongdoing and Blake was hired by one (Dickerson) to do undercover work at the other (Arrenhower)’s manufacturing plant. After Blake flee the crime scene, thereby making himself the prime suspect, he went on his haphazard investigation spree and at the same time being hunted by the police who were convinced Blake was the murderer. After pages of non-stop action that is not really convincing, Blake found his man. It turns out Arrenhower was the one who murdered Blake’s wife Stella because he was obsessed with her since they met in rehab a while ago. Stella, being already married to Blake and in love with Blake, did not want to have anything to do with Arrenhower.
I am very disappointed with the book. It is a short book. Despite the fact it is jam-packed with non-stop action, it is quite boring and frustrating to read. The plot is quite unconvincing. While a husband getting wrongfully accused of his wife’s death, who then has to evade police and at the same time to solve the crime is not a new theme, Whittington did not do a good job in making framed husband convincing or sympathetic. Not only do I not have a lot of sympathy for Blake, I feel frustrated with his stupidity and how he made matters a lot worse by not calling the police and also consistently blundering his investigation and shows he has more muscle than brain. The writing is only average. Every few pages in the book are some long winded repetition of how sad Blake is with his wife’s death. Blake gave a lot of big talk about how he will solve the case himself instead of cooperating with police. Whittington made Blake looks like a whining crying baby who is too ill equipped to solve the problem. In the end, his ability to solve the case was due more to dumb luck and coincidences.
The setting of the story is in Gulf City and Tampa in Florida in early 1950s. The story is about a private detective Steven Blake who found his estranged wife murdered when he came home from an out of town trip. Instead of calling the police, Blake left the crime scene and ineffectively proceed to hunt down the killer to seek revenge. At that time, he was working on a case where two government contractors were each accusing the other of wrongdoing and Blake was hired by one (Dickerson) to do undercover work at the other (Arrenhower)’s manufacturing plant. After Blake flee the crime scene, thereby making himself the prime suspect, he went on his haphazard investigation spree and at the same time being hunted by the police who were convinced Blake was the murderer. After pages of non-stop action that is not really convincing, Blake found his man. It turns out Arrenhower was the one who murdered Blake’s wife Stella because he was obsessed with her since they met in rehab a while ago. Stella, being already married to Blake and in love with Blake, did not want to have anything to do with Arrenhower.
I am very disappointed with the book. It is a short book. Despite the fact it is jam-packed with non-stop action, it is quite boring and frustrating to read. The plot is quite unconvincing. While a husband getting wrongfully accused of his wife’s death, who then has to evade police and at the same time to solve the crime is not a new theme, Whittington did not do a good job in making framed husband convincing or sympathetic. Not only do I not have a lot of sympathy for Blake, I feel frustrated with his stupidity and how he made matters a lot worse by not calling the police and also consistently blundering his investigation and shows he has more muscle than brain. The writing is only average. Every few pages in the book are some long winded repetition of how sad Blake is with his wife’s death. Blake gave a lot of big talk about how he will solve the case himself instead of cooperating with police. Whittington made Blake looks like a whining crying baby who is too ill equipped to solve the problem. In the end, his ability to solve the case was due more to dumb luck and coincidences.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2025
An Overwrought But Enjoyable Pulp Noir
As a writer, Harry Whittington is anything but subtle. His prose is brash and straightforward, telling the reader stories about hard-knuckled men in a hard-knuckled way. Mourn The Hangman is typical Whittington, about a private eye, Steve Blake, wanted for murdering his wife and all the hoops he has to jump through to finally find the real killer. It moves at ninety miles an hour, with Blake getting arrested, getting kidnapped, getting away, getting threatened, getting in more trouble, getting help from a pretty girl ( of course), and finally getting his revenge. It’s so overwrought that at times it’s downright funny, and the plot is pretty outrageous. Also, for those who might be offended, I should mention that there’s one scene with some insulting remarks about gay characters and another scene with a Black character who’s a good guy but speaks in the stereotypical way common of books from this era. Those caveats aside, this is a great example of the sort of cynical, mean, dark 1950s pulp fiction churned out by Whittington and his contemporaries.
As a writer, Harry Whittington is anything but subtle. His prose is brash and straightforward, telling the reader stories about hard-knuckled men in a hard-knuckled way. Mourn The Hangman is typical Whittington, about a private eye, Steve Blake, wanted for murdering his wife and all the hoops he has to jump through to finally find the real killer. It moves at ninety miles an hour, with Blake getting arrested, getting kidnapped, getting away, getting threatened, getting in more trouble, getting help from a pretty girl ( of course), and finally getting his revenge. It’s so overwrought that at times it’s downright funny, and the plot is pretty outrageous. Also, for those who might be offended, I should mention that there’s one scene with some insulting remarks about gay characters and another scene with a Black character who’s a good guy but speaks in the stereotypical way common of books from this era. Those caveats aside, this is a great example of the sort of cynical, mean, dark 1950s pulp fiction churned out by Whittington and his contemporaries.
November 11, 2023
This volume soars well and to the end. The plight of the main character is well written and resulting adventure is worth reading. The dashing and dodging written is an intricate bit of plotting. I really like, as the reader, wondering how the character would get in or out of a scrape. Whittington has proven quite a knack for writing such in previous books.
There does seem to be something missing in this and left the book less satisfied than in other Whittington books.
The Florida setting: Florida native Whittington drapes St Petersburg in another name and has characters in and out of Tampa and Ybor City. In this book he writes sparingly of all locations, unlike most of his other novels.
Bottom line: I recommend this book 7 out of ten points.
There does seem to be something missing in this and left the book less satisfied than in other Whittington books.
The Florida setting: Florida native Whittington drapes St Petersburg in another name and has characters in and out of Tampa and Ybor City. In this book he writes sparingly of all locations, unlike most of his other novels.
Bottom line: I recommend this book 7 out of ten points.
October 14, 2019
Steve Blake, a private eye assigned to investigate a corrupt businessman’s South American operations returns home to find his wife murdered, an assumed frame job. Blake goes vigilante in a relentless one-man pursuit of his wife’s killer which puts him at odds with the police, his detective partner, and the powerful businessman’s entourage. A nice take on the “guy on the run seeking revenge” theme that keeps the pages turning. The dialog and prose is strong, although the plot relies a lot on coincidence, with Blake always showing up just in time to find someone just killed. A very entertaining, albeit somewhat flawed, page burner.
May 26, 2023
What can you say about an early Whittington, read it, this is a genre in its creation.
Just holding originals of these books is great, reading them carefully just adds to the pleasure, them smells are not mildew, that's history is all its glory!
Just holding originals of these books is great, reading them carefully just adds to the pleasure, them smells are not mildew, that's history is all its glory!
July 15, 2011
Aina välillä sitä yllättyy, miten hyviä kirjoja sitä tuleekaan luettua.
February 12, 2015
While very short, I struggled to get through this one. Lots of exclamation points. How incompetent are the police in this town, anyways?
Very close to 1star but I'd hate to do that.
Very close to 1star but I'd hate to do that.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews