One Bright Summer Morning

by James Hadley Chase

Successful dramatist Victor Dermott rents an isolated ranch-house in the Nevada Desert. For two months all is ideal, then one bright summer morning he wakes to find his dog, his guns, his servant vanished - and the telephone dead.The terror has begun . . .'Agonising tension sustained throughout a first-rate story' Evening Standard

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Novels

Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

René Lodge Brabazon Raymond was born on 24th December 1906 in London, England, the son of Colonel Francis Raymond of the colonial Indian Army, a veterinary surgeon. His father intended his son to have a scientific career, was initially educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent. He left home at the age of 18 and became at different times a children's encyclopedia salesman, a salesman in a bookshop, and executive for a book wholesaler before turning to a writing career that produced more than 90 mystery books. His interests included photography (he was up to professional standard), reading and listening to classical music, being a particularly enthusiastic opera lover. Also as a form of relaxation between novels, he put together highly complicated and sophisticated Meccano models.

In 1932, Raymond married Sylvia Ray, who gave him a son. They were together until his death fifty three years later. Prohibition and the ensuing US Great Depression (1929–1939), had given rise to the Chicago gangster culture just prior to World War II. This, combined with her book trade experience, made him realise that there was a big demand for gangster stories. He wrote as R. Raymond, James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall.

During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. Chase edited the RAF Journal with David Langdon and had several stories from it published after the war in the book Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.

Raymond moved to France in 1956 and then to Switzerland in 1969, living a secluded life in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, on Lake Geneva, from 1974. He eventually died there peacefully on 6 February 1985.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chase’s 1963 crime novel is a comedic approach to crime fiction. The characters are all over the top and oddly funny. The main planner of the caper is a geriatric retired mobster who got swindled by his accountant and now has nothing but his wits and reputation. He recruits as his right hand man a washed up mamma’s boy whose days of racketeering are years behind him. To complete the crew is a pair of twins right out of Rocky Horror (Chita and Riff) whose incestuous relationship is only topped by Riff’s savage and unrestrained violence. Of course, the kidnapping victim isn’t really scared of the kidnappers and their plot to hold her in a desert ranch never makes much sense. The whole thing feels ludicrous from start to finish.

[Paul Lothane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riff and Chita – two young degenerates, both ruthless amoral and cruel. Actually they are blood twins – identical twins…Riff is male whilst Chita is female; yet though they are siblings this has not stopped them from sleeping with each other as we learn with disgust as this story unfolds…Actually this novel is about kidnapping, ransom and inevitable murders organized by Big Jack Kramer hitherto retired gangster who has come out of retirement. But Kramer and his aide, Moe need a couple of vicious youngsters to handle the dirty end of the operation and this is where Rita and Chita come in. Riff’s ruthlessness quickly ends in the first murder and things start to get out of control. A distinguished playwright and his wife- and baby – get involved in the whole nightmare…but at least at the end things unravel for all the gangsters. Chita dies a bizarre, ironical death. And Riff? A truly gruesome end for him…not that anyone would shed tears for him.

[Henry Ozogula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read this book at the weekend, after many many years...I realised that Chase is still a very vital, convincing writer, very vigorous and philosophical atimes.

Consider just 2 quotes from the book here:

Firstly, Chita the tough female hoodlum, ponders in a passage where no punches are pulled

"... he (Riff) really meant to marry the girl (Zelda). Already he was planning how he would live with her money ... how he was going to wallow in the softness of riches ...and he would drop her (Chita) ... he would want to be rid of her to absorb himself into the soft, aimless, futile life of the rich that would sap the guts out of him and he would become just another of the hundreds of playboys Chita had bedded with: spineless, gutless and useless."

Or the very powerful (though harrowing) end of the book:

"Riff spun around... he ran blindly into the spinning aircraft propeller that sliced through his head with the precision of a butcher's cleaver slicing through meat and bone."

Phew.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story delivered by Chase that immediately starts off in a chilling manner, then slowly lays out all the cards to set up the wild fireworks show that follows.

Solid characters really sell this kidnapping caper. The criminals are desperate, but half the team is old and experienced while the other half is young and unpredictably dangerous. The victims are empathetic until Zelda gets into the mix and things really go bananas. Things naturally fall apart, and Chase has some of his best action writing on display at the end, leading up to a heck of a closing line.

I knew if I kept reading Chase that through all the disappointments I'd still find a gem or two.

[Albus Eugene Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ciao piccola, aspetti qualcuno? …
Wastelands, un piccolo paradiso di ranch ai margini del deserto del Nevada, che poi … Shining …; il vecchio gangster grasso e stanco, ma pronto a rientrare nel giro; l’agente Federale che non molla, mai; pistole che passano di mano come fossero il telecomando sul divano; teppistelli duri, ma proprio duri assai; vecchie stazioni di servizio, come oasi di luce nella notte buia; San Bernardino e Country Club; fili del telefono strappati senza tanti complimenti; piccoli aeroporti sperduti, che poi in Messico …; valigette piene di dollari; Hotel a Los Angeles che basta che sganci dollari, puoi chiamarti anche John Smith; pugni in faccia senza complimenti.
Col dorso della mano ti levi il sangue, ti passi la lingua sui denti ma il sapore del sangue ti rimane in bocca; sorridi di sghimbescio per via dello zigomo gonfio, che manco Bogey … ma ragazzi … che spettacolo …
Poi, lo so, una tipa tosta dirà Eh sì, Chase non si può far altro che divorarlo ...
[anobii, Jan 2016]

[Crime Addict Sifat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very thrilling! You can't put down this book. Fruitful writer Victor Dermott rents a detached farm house in the Nevada Desert. For two months all is perfect, at that point one splendid summer morning he wakes to discover his canine, his weapons, his worker vanished - and the phone dead. The dread has started ...

[Maharsh Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a fan of James Hadley Chase, it was brought to my notice that I had actually missed this title. I hadn't even heard of it. When it made to a friend's top books of all time, I got down to reading it. It's a standard Chase novel with all the twists, turns and intrigue. Written in the 1960s this novel offers a quick breeze of a read and I am inclined to disagree that it is one of Chase's best though it is still very, very good. The characters are tremendously interesting, I just wished (not getting into spoilers) that the ending was better, and had a much more bigger surprise than it's current shape.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A plot to kidnap and ransom a young wealthy socialite goes awry when one of the kidnappers turns out to be a psychopath eager to kill and torture. Sound familiar? It should, because One Bright Summer Morning essentially is a reworking of James Hadley Chase's first novel, No Orchids for Miss Blandish. And, of course, the kidnapping plot is a favorite of Chase's that he constantly returns to in his writing. That said, there is enough variety and action in this story to keep the reader glued to the page. And just to make sure there is something different, Chase throws in a little incest as well.

[Kakha · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the favorite stories of my favorite author. Here we again plunge into the incredible and extremely interesting world of the life of the glorious (but invented by the author) resort town of Paradise City. This fictional city is located on the Florida coast, near Miami. In books about this "heavenly" city, most often we encounter detective Tom Lepski, who usually is directly leading the investigation.
So, the writer Victor Dermott decided to take a sabbatical for the whole summer and left with his family to a secluded cottage a few tens of kilometers from the city. But one day, waking up on a clear summer morning, he discovered that his dog had disappeared somewhere... Then the situation escalated even more, tension grew, trouble was impending... And then the reader will find out everything himself and will regret it when he turns the last page of this magnificent book that it ended so quickly.

[Samuel]

it's a story of fear and crime

[Akinola Akinyemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting!

I enjoyed every little line of this book. An example of an unputdownable book. This is what James H C is about.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a picturesque coastal town that looks like it belongs in a tourist brochure, One Bright Summer Morning is anything but relaxing. The story kicks off when Shelly Fontaine, a gorgeous, manipulative showgirl with a dark past, rolls into town with nothing but a suitcase and a smile. She’s looking for money—and she knows exactly how to get it: from men. Rich, lonely, gullible men.

She soon sets her sights on Harry Blandamore, a wealthy but ageing businessman who’s just vulnerable enough to be dangerous. And from there, Chase spins a classic noir web: a seductive woman, a lovestruck fool, jealous rivals, and a trail of death. Murder is inevitable—it’s just a matter of when and how many people go down with the ship.

But what makes this one stand out is the pace—it’s slow and sultry, like the heat before a thunderstorm. Chase lets the tension simmer. The atmosphere is rich with whispered threats, suspicious glances, and the smell of suntan lotion over fresh graves. Every character is wearing a mask, and by the end, no one's getting out unscathed.

I read this one during a particularly scorching summer in Kolkata, sprawled on a bamboo chair with my shirt sticking to my back and a ceiling fan doing absolutely nothing. The irony of that title wasn’t lost on me—the brightness of the morning in the book mirrored the blazing sun outside, but the mood? Pitch dark. I remember sipping on watered-down lemonade and thinking, “If hell had a beach resort, Chase just described it.”

The part where everything falls apart—where the facade cracks and the real motives come crawling out—hit me like a sucker punch. That slow boil of suspense? Felt like the real-life dread you get when something looks too perfect to be true. Because it usually is.

In essence, One Bright Summer Morning is a venomous love letter to human weakness, told under a postcard sky. It’s about how sunshine casts the darkest shadows, and how the most beautiful days often hide the ugliest intentions. With Chase’s razor-sharp storytelling, even paradise can become a prison—and escape is never part of the plan.

[Alfie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced, but just the right kind of fast tempo that I appreciate. Yet, the characters are uniquely distinct and intriguing, but undeniably short-lived to make an everlasting impression due to the limitation of the book. It’s like seeing someone handsome/pretty - you marvel for a second, maybe linger for a few, and then continue on with your life.

Hence, it earns a pass (3 stars) from me.

[Ugwueze Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very great

[আকাশ আব্দুল্লাহ · Rating 4 out of 5]

দূর্দান্ত গতি
মেদহীন
বাহুল্যহীন
ইনটেন্স
গ্রিপিং...

[Ioannidesz Evjeniosz · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!

[Samuel Hlohlogwane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a shame..while you are sure retired enjoing your a peaceful life then something like this happens..you have to start again at the age of 60 and above

[Milind · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is vintage chase. The first chapter simply grabs your attention with its intense tension. And Chase builds on that tension filled first chapter to craft an excellent story of kidnapping. What makes its special are the vivid pictures that his writing conjures about the events and the various characters especially the brother and sister Riff and Chita. Chase a much underrated writer has a style of writing which does not allow the readers to relax unlike other thriller writers.

As events unfold the plan goes awry and the fate of Riff and Chita brings an fitting end to the finale.
What I like was the vividness the author bought to the description of the various character. He used only a few words but the reader instantly conjure up an image of what they looked like and how their mind worked. I especially had a soft spot for Moe. Though he is also an gangster still he has a code of honour which makes him different from the brother and sister pair. As for Riff and Chita they are depraved and vicious without any redeeming feature.

For fans of crime thrillers worth reading others used to cosy mysteries may not be comfortable with it.

[Akul Sahariya · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILER alert!
The chase states with the protagonist in cold morning sweat not sure about the ongoings in and around his house. This A good read if you are into westerns and a wild-wild west ending of sorts.

[Maitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

thrill!

[B. BALA CHANDER · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first english novel ,read during feb 1979.

[Suleiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a Chase,and for me,dat says it all!

[Ramzi Zaindeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing story of Greed, betrayal and love.

[Sira Ravindrnath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nerve wracking. Makes me to get revitted.

[Anu · Rating 5 out of 5]

good crime book

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My very first book. Loved it!!!

[Srinivasa Ramanujam · Rating 3 out of 5]

page turner.

[Sen Savithri]

wow ...superb!!! an excellent book by james Hadley chase...very fast paced...I read this sort of books only during my high school days...but i can enjoy it even now

[Vicente Díaz Blázquez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Traducción espantosa. Personajes un poco tontos, cuando se supone que eran profesionales del crimen con experiencia.