Self Made Widow

by Philip Race, E.M. Parsons

"Until Death Do Us Part," She Promised -- With Murder in her Heart and Larceny on Her Mind Johnny Babcock was the name on the $100,000 life insurance policy. Johnny Babcock was the name on all the identification found on the crumpled, burnt body at the bottom of a ravine. Johnny Babcock's grieving widow gratefully accepted the cashier's check from the insurance company. And all the while, Johnny Babcock lived on Skid Row, doubled-crossed by the wife he loved...and facing murder charges if he ever revealed his true identify. Is there a way out for Johnny that doesn't put him in behind bars...or in a grave for real this time? "Packs plenty of punch...you will thrill to this master of mystery."Brooklyn Record ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elmer Merle Parsons was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1926. In 1949, when he was 23 years old, he was convicted of burglary and grand theft for stealing a car from a Phoenix used car lot and leading police on a wild chase that ended in a crash. He served three years in Chino State Prison...but didn't stay free for long. In 1955, he was arrested in Pasadena, CA for passing 22 stolen checks, which he told the court he needed to "tide him over" while awaiting money for a script he claimed he'd sold and because he couldn't get a job due to his prison record. He was sentenced to five years in prison, which he served at San Quentin, where he became editor of the prison newspaper and sold his first novel, "Self Made Widow," to Fawcett for $3500 advance under the pen-name "Philip Race." He wrote wrote & published two more novels, "Killer Take All" and "Johnny Come Deadly," under his pen name. After his release in 1960, he wrote one novel ("Dark of Summer") and several westerns under his own name and also contributed scripts for many TV series, including Sea Hunt, Cheyenne, Ripcord, Bonanza, The Dakotas, The Virginian and Flipper.

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Double Indemnity Meets Trading Places

Ever since James Cain's blockbuster "Double Indemnity" everyone thinks an insurance scam is the way to make a fortune or at least a firm basis for a murder story. This begins with a struggling salesman at the end of his rope, conceiving of the ultimate scheme with his Betty Crocker doting wife, the statuesque Edna. In a complicated plot, Johnny and Edna Babcock are going to find a wino, stuff him in Johnny's car, set it afire, and dance away to Rio, Paris, or wherever with $100,000. Johnny just has to disappear for a week or two till the insurance company pays off. Here's where he plays Dan Akroyd as a skid row bum, finds out dear old Edna would prefer that he himself burned in the wreck, and, joining forces with a crackerjack team of bums and a hooker with a heart of gold, figures some way out if this mess. It has all the right ingredients, but perhaps not in quite the right amounts cause the taste is off. The notes are off and it never really sings the blues the way a good pulp should. It may be a couple of stories were knit together. Definitely readable and enjoyable, but not quite a standout.