Some Look Better Dead

Hank Janson - Series Two #2

by Hank Janson (Pseudonym), Stephen D. Frances, Reginald Heade (Cover Artist)

A seemingly innocuous visit to a fashion show leads Chicago Chronicle’s ace reporter Hank Janson into a web of murder and intrigue with dark secrets from the past. Uncovering a disturbing scenario of sexual obsession and violence, he starts to realise that this is one assignment to which there can be no easy answers, and no happy ending ...With their erotic pin-up covers and hardboiled crime tales, the Hank Janson pulp paperback novels were a British publishing sensation in the 1940s and 1950s, selling millions of copies to readers craving escapism from post-war austerity. Prosecutions under Britain’s then-harsh obscenity laws dealt them a severe blow, however, and today they are highly sought-after by collectors.Some Look Better Dead is the third entry in Telos Publishing Ltd’s acclaimed reissue series, and features the original cover art by legendary British illustrator Reginald Heade.

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

A pseudonym used by Stephen Frances and Victor Norwood.

Hank Janson was the most popular and successful of British pulp fiction authors of the 1940s and 1950s. It was estimated that over five million of the author's books had been sold by 1954.

'When Dames Ge Tough' was the first Hank Janson novel in 1946 and there were around 220 featuring the tough Chicago reporter through to 'The Young Wolves' in 1968.

Many of the later novels were reputed to be the work of other authors.

Reviews

[Bill Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor Jansen, notable mostly for a comical, absurdly fetishistic fashion show scene -- probably to please any readers who had bought it solely for the Heade cover. The story itself is a tale of two crimes linked by extremely improbable coincidence and, of course, the intrepid Hank. Still, these books are lively pulp and deliver on their promise of thrills and zippy narrative.