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Alfred Hitchcock's Death Bag
Vintage paperback
159 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1978
1 person is currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Hitchcock
1,145 books774 followersSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (1899-1980) was an iconic and highly influential film director and producer, who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres.
Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.
Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.
Following a very substantial career in his native Britain in both silent films and talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became an American citizen with dual nationality in 1956, thus he also remained a British subject.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career which spanned six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of sound films, and far into the era of colour films. For a complete list of his films, see Alfred Hitchcock filmography.
Hitchcock was among the most consistently recognizable directors to the general public, and was one of the most successful film directors during his lifetime. He continues to be one of the best known and most popular filmmakers of all time.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 23, 2017
A really excellent collection, this one, containing stories dating between 1957 and 1968, culled from the pages of AHMM. It starts strong with "Dying a Thousand Deaths" by the always great Hal Ellson-- a guy in Mexico waiting to finish a drug deal loses the money gambling and tries to plot his way out of the jam.
"Year End Clearance" by Mary Lin Roby has a lawman trying to convince a mortician to stop running a sale because it seems it's sparked a series of murders in town.
Henry Slesar's "Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con" is a laugh-out loud funny story about a pair of would-be thieves who screw up horribly. Slesar never disappoints. CB Gilford is another solid writer who appears in a lot of these anthologies. In "Beware: Dangerous Man" a woman tries to clear her husband's name of a hit-and-run murder charge by by investigating the neighbor who's accused him.
It's great to see Helen Nielson in this collection, as she's an under-appreciated writer of the era. In "Murder and Lonely Hearts", well, imagine The Pina Colada Song, except with murderous and tragic consequences. In the very short "To Avoid a Scandal" by Talmage Powell, a "well-bred" fellow plots the murder of his ill-bred new wife.
HA DeRosso's "Revenge is Bitter-Sweet" is another highlight: a heart-broken man blackmails his former love, until he makes a startling discovery about where the blackmail information is coming from. "Hospitality Most Serene" by the great Jack Ritchie has a loner held hostage in his cabin by some bank robbers on the lam, and deftly turns them against each other. Terrific story with a good twist.
"The Tenth Part of a Million" by Robert Colby: a young secretary is enticed by her handsome and rich boss to try to kill her husband-- or so it seems. "Horse-Collar Homicide" by Arthur Porges is a slightly contrived mystery story about a cop and a pathologist who solve an unusual murder. Porges was a good writer, but a little hung up on mystery stories with a silly, contrived solution.
Rober Edmud Alter's "Schedule for an Assassination": two (presumably) Russian assassins try to escape a small Mediterranean city where they've just killed a politician, but frayed nerves do them in. In "Ambition" by Micheal Brett, a Mob boss cleverly does away with his too-ambitious underling.
Richard H. Hardwick's "Successor" is about a gigilo threatened by his paramour's new boy-toy. And finally, in "Stop Killing Me" by Hal Dresner, a cop hears the complaint of a woman convinced her husband is trying to literally worry her to death.
Highlights (and there are quite a few this time!): "Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con", "Revenge is Bitter-Sweet", "Hospitality Most Serene", and 'Schedule for an Assassination".
"Year End Clearance" by Mary Lin Roby has a lawman trying to convince a mortician to stop running a sale because it seems it's sparked a series of murders in town.
Henry Slesar's "Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con" is a laugh-out loud funny story about a pair of would-be thieves who screw up horribly. Slesar never disappoints. CB Gilford is another solid writer who appears in a lot of these anthologies. In "Beware: Dangerous Man" a woman tries to clear her husband's name of a hit-and-run murder charge by by investigating the neighbor who's accused him.
It's great to see Helen Nielson in this collection, as she's an under-appreciated writer of the era. In "Murder and Lonely Hearts", well, imagine The Pina Colada Song, except with murderous and tragic consequences. In the very short "To Avoid a Scandal" by Talmage Powell, a "well-bred" fellow plots the murder of his ill-bred new wife.
HA DeRosso's "Revenge is Bitter-Sweet" is another highlight: a heart-broken man blackmails his former love, until he makes a startling discovery about where the blackmail information is coming from. "Hospitality Most Serene" by the great Jack Ritchie has a loner held hostage in his cabin by some bank robbers on the lam, and deftly turns them against each other. Terrific story with a good twist.
"The Tenth Part of a Million" by Robert Colby: a young secretary is enticed by her handsome and rich boss to try to kill her husband-- or so it seems. "Horse-Collar Homicide" by Arthur Porges is a slightly contrived mystery story about a cop and a pathologist who solve an unusual murder. Porges was a good writer, but a little hung up on mystery stories with a silly, contrived solution.
Rober Edmud Alter's "Schedule for an Assassination": two (presumably) Russian assassins try to escape a small Mediterranean city where they've just killed a politician, but frayed nerves do them in. In "Ambition" by Micheal Brett, a Mob boss cleverly does away with his too-ambitious underling.
Richard H. Hardwick's "Successor" is about a gigilo threatened by his paramour's new boy-toy. And finally, in "Stop Killing Me" by Hal Dresner, a cop hears the complaint of a woman convinced her husband is trying to literally worry her to death.
Highlights (and there are quite a few this time!): "Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con", "Revenge is Bitter-Sweet", "Hospitality Most Serene", and 'Schedule for an Assassination".
May 11, 2017
I simply love these old Hitchcock collections! They make for tasty little treats before bed. This one took me a single evening to get through. I got comfortable in bed, decided I'd read a story or two before turning out the lights, and then...boom!...the book was at its end and I suddenly didn't feel so tired. Say what you will, but Mister Hitchcock could certainly cook up a decent story collection. Not every one is stellar, but all are entertaining and a few are genuinely powerful additions.
March 12, 2017
Typical collection of page turner mystery short stories. "Beware: Dangerous Man" would have made a great Hitchcock film. "Murder and Lonely Hearts" would have made for a decent episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The rest of the collection is mediocre. Entertaining, but average.
April 12, 2023
I am a big fan of the Alfred Hitchcock short story anthologies. This one, originally published in 1969, features two of my favorite authors, Henry Slesar and Robert Colby.
Slesar's story,"Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con,"concerns two young crooks who figure out a way to break into the apartment of a fabulously wealthy couple while the couple is out on the town. Once inside, one of the crooks has a desperate need to urinate. He steps into the bathroom to take care of business...and then can't get the bathroom door open when he's finished. The tension builds as the time for the couple to return draws closer and closer and the two men frantically try to get the blasted door open.
In Colby's story, "The Tenth Part of a Million," a millionaire businessman hires a gorgeous young secretary and immediately falls in love with her. The problem is that the secretary is married. So the businessman begins a campaign to convince the young woman to partner with him in the murder of her husband so that the two of them can be together and live a lavish, globe-trotting lifestyle. This story is extremely clever and has the kind of shock ending that is typical of these anthologies...and the thing that makes them fun.
I buy every Hitchcock anthology I run across if I don't already have it. This one provided me with an evening of reading enjoyment.
Slesar's story,"Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con,"concerns two young crooks who figure out a way to break into the apartment of a fabulously wealthy couple while the couple is out on the town. Once inside, one of the crooks has a desperate need to urinate. He steps into the bathroom to take care of business...and then can't get the bathroom door open when he's finished. The tension builds as the time for the couple to return draws closer and closer and the two men frantically try to get the blasted door open.
In Colby's story, "The Tenth Part of a Million," a millionaire businessman hires a gorgeous young secretary and immediately falls in love with her. The problem is that the secretary is married. So the businessman begins a campaign to convince the young woman to partner with him in the murder of her husband so that the two of them can be together and live a lavish, globe-trotting lifestyle. This story is extremely clever and has the kind of shock ending that is typical of these anthologies...and the thing that makes them fun.
I buy every Hitchcock anthology I run across if I don't already have it. This one provided me with an evening of reading enjoyment.
October 13, 2024
I originally got this because it had a short story by a favorite author of mine, Robert Edmond Alter.
Upon receiving it, I realized I was familiar with another of the anthology's authors—H. A. DeRosso—who penned a pretty tragic hardboiled western I recently read, .44.
Like all anthologies, this had its ups and downs, but even the weaker stories were tightly and competently composed. And there is a pretty wide variety of genres here. It wasn't all spouses plotting to kill their significant others. There was a story about foreign assassins, a murder mystery, mafiosos, guys in gambling debts, and more than one that was just straight black humor.
The best of the lot was the story by DeRosso, about a man blackmailing an old flame. It felt like a whole Fawcett Gold Medal novel condensed into a dozen pages.
This was a nice break from reading novels and I'll seek out more of these Hitchcock anthologies.
Upon receiving it, I realized I was familiar with another of the anthology's authors—H. A. DeRosso—who penned a pretty tragic hardboiled western I recently read, .44.
Like all anthologies, this had its ups and downs, but even the weaker stories were tightly and competently composed. And there is a pretty wide variety of genres here. It wasn't all spouses plotting to kill their significant others. There was a story about foreign assassins, a murder mystery, mafiosos, guys in gambling debts, and more than one that was just straight black humor.
The best of the lot was the story by DeRosso, about a man blackmailing an old flame. It felt like a whole Fawcett Gold Medal novel condensed into a dozen pages.
This was a nice break from reading novels and I'll seek out more of these Hitchcock anthologies.
July 14, 2017
I found it interesting to pull out this little book of short stories that I have owned since 1969.
Some of the stories are like reading historical mystery/thrillers. Others however, do not withstand the test of time. As a whole they give an excellent sense of the world in the late 1960s. They portray a society in which a sign of financial success was for a man to have a steady job that paid enough for his wife to stay at home and look after the house. Hierarchies and authorities were respected. Diversity was non-existent.
Would I recommend it? If you are looking for something simple to read that can be interrupted at any time. The stories are very short so are quick to read. They are perfect for a short transit trip, in a waiting room or when you're having trouble falling asleep.
Some of the stories are like reading historical mystery/thrillers. Others however, do not withstand the test of time. As a whole they give an excellent sense of the world in the late 1960s. They portray a society in which a sign of financial success was for a man to have a steady job that paid enough for his wife to stay at home and look after the house. Hierarchies and authorities were respected. Diversity was non-existent.
Would I recommend it? If you are looking for something simple to read that can be interrupted at any time. The stories are very short so are quick to read. They are perfect for a short transit trip, in a waiting room or when you're having trouble falling asleep.
April 7, 2020
A standard Alfred Hitchcock collection of suspense from the 1950's and 1960's. As usual, some stories are better than others. The best: "The Tenth Part of a Million", "Successor", and "Ruby Martinson, Ex-Con". The worst: "Beware: Dangerous Man" and "To Avoid a Scandal". "Hospitality Most Serene" was a decent story, but had a most unsatisfyingly abrupt ending.
I'm not sure why the Ruby Martinson story was included in this collection. It's not about a murder or anything close to one, unlike all the others. Not complaining though, because Henry Slesar is a gifted writer and his Ruby Martinson stories are always funny.
I'm not sure why the Ruby Martinson story was included in this collection. It's not about a murder or anything close to one, unlike all the others. Not complaining though, because Henry Slesar is a gifted writer and his Ruby Martinson stories are always funny.
January 23, 2022
Another fun Hitchcock anthology. The stories aren’t the most consistent quality wise but overall were pretty good. I love the style of these collections and plan to hunt more down soon! Ratings for the individual stories are listed below:
Dying A Thousand Deaths- 9/10
Year-end Clearance- 7/10
Ruby Martinson, Ex-con- 9/10
Beware: Dangerous Man- 8.5/10
Murder And Lonely Hearts- 8/10
To Avoid A Scandal- 7.5/10
Revenge Is Bitter-Sweet- 7.5/10
Hospitality Most Serene- 5/10
The Tenth Part Of A Million- 9/10
Horse-collar Homicide- 6/10
Schedule For An Assassination- 7/10
Ambition- 5/10
Successor- 8.5/10
Stop Killing Me- 7/10
Dying A Thousand Deaths- 9/10
Year-end Clearance- 7/10
Ruby Martinson, Ex-con- 9/10
Beware: Dangerous Man- 8.5/10
Murder And Lonely Hearts- 8/10
To Avoid A Scandal- 7.5/10
Revenge Is Bitter-Sweet- 7.5/10
Hospitality Most Serene- 5/10
The Tenth Part Of A Million- 9/10
Horse-collar Homicide- 6/10
Schedule For An Assassination- 7/10
Ambition- 5/10
Successor- 8.5/10
Stop Killing Me- 7/10
August 10, 2021
Closer to a 3.5, all the stories have a positive point or two about them and I enjoyed all of them. However there are no standouts in this collection, just an overall average collection of crime stories with a lot of them having a Tales from the Crypt vibe.
I would recommend, all the stories are speedy reads and are good when you don't have a lot of time for reading. None leave a bad taste in your mouth.
I would recommend, all the stories are speedy reads and are good when you don't have a lot of time for reading. None leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews