What do you think?
Rate this book
Honey West #6
A Kiss For a Killer
The Honey’s boy toy Rip Spensor, a Los Angeles Rams QB who got sacked by a steamroller (“ground right into the asphalt”), and Angela Scali, an Italian Hollywood bombshell that set out for an innocent weekend at a nudist colony run by some quirky evangelical Christians and ended up hanging dead in a romantic mountain glade (“the grass underneath red with her blood”). What connects the Both were associated with a certain blonde gumshoe with an unmistakable 38-22-36 figure and a license to carry.
- GenresMysteryMedia Tie InCrime
200 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 1960
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 30, 2016
Honey West #6: “Kiss For A Killer” by G.G. Fickling. When football star Rip Spensor is found murdered, and there’s a picture of Honey West in a frame by his bed, Lt. Mark Storm wants to know what Honey has to do with the case. There’s also a lead to Thom Tunny’s nudist cult. No sooner does the story get off the ground than a deadly species of tarantulas have been dumped into her car – and lap, then she’s ran off the road by a nude driver – a hunk of a man, and Honey is hired by Tummy’s cult to investigate the murder. Then there’s the Academy Award winning actress tied in with the dead man and the nude cult, and Honey gets knocked over the head. All before Page 50. And it doesn’t stop there. Honey is captured, tied, threatened with torture and rape, and even forced off a cliff. The action doesn’t stop. Not to mention she keeps waking up with murdered people. This was a fun read from the start to finish.
March 15, 2022
The sixth book in the Honey West series is one of the best. It begins with the gruesome death of one of Honey’s friends and the case gets more and more personal as she gets closer and closer to finding the killer. This one has all the elements in fine form - L.A. noir, spicy banter, creepy crawlies, and plenty of peril, including a very literal cliffhanger.
April 2, 2018
For some reason I love these Honey West books. Maybe because I read them as a young boy. This book is fast pace and has several twists.
August 27, 2018
Spillaney.
January 27, 2019
A good Honey West novel, but certainly not the best.
August 17, 2024
#6 in the Honey West crime series. Murder at a nudist colony.
February 16, 2016
This book is entertaining in ways partly intended and not. It was meant to be an almost softcore, racy, mystery about a sexy woman private detective named Honey West. It is set in Los Angeles and southern California in the late 1950s, when author G. G. Fickling wrote it. (He followed up with several more Honey West novels but the series lost popularity by 1970.)
In this one, Honey is working a case that leads her to the discovery of a dead man who turns out to be a washed up movie star who has been doing television lately. (Nice historical touch: In the 1950s, Hollywood was divided into movies and television and they did not mix; few could get away with switching from movies to TV.)
Against the advice of the police detective who is working the murder case (he has the hots for Honey but doesn't everyone?), Honey gets involved, even taking a job with the television show the actor was on. When the show is scheduled to film part of an episode on Catalina Island, just off the coast of California, Honey goes along. During the trip, several guests are murdered. The wrong man is naturally suspected. Honey knows better but she cannot prove it and doesn't yet know who the real killer is.
On the island, she continues her investigation, dodging assassins and winning at strip poker in order to get information out of a group of young men. On the return boat trip, Honey finally exposes the real killer, in the process also exposing his true identity, which is a doozy.
A word should be said about Fickling's ambivalent regard for Honey. She is at once a sex object and also a person, and Fickling likes her in both ways and even seems to be identifying with her at times. There is a recognition that Honey is intelligent, resourceful and suffering from the memory of her father's murder years before the novel begins. In some sense, Forrest "Skip" Fickling himself is Honey, at least when he isn't modeling her after his wife, Gloria, whom he incidentally first met on Catalina Island where part of this novel is set. (Mrs. Fickling denied the legend that she helped with the writing; she said, "I was more the sounding board and the technical advisor," giving Mr. Fickling tips on women's clothing and accessories. However, she did admit that she helped to create the character and name of Honey West.)
In this one, Honey is working a case that leads her to the discovery of a dead man who turns out to be a washed up movie star who has been doing television lately. (Nice historical touch: In the 1950s, Hollywood was divided into movies and television and they did not mix; few could get away with switching from movies to TV.)
Against the advice of the police detective who is working the murder case (he has the hots for Honey but doesn't everyone?), Honey gets involved, even taking a job with the television show the actor was on. When the show is scheduled to film part of an episode on Catalina Island, just off the coast of California, Honey goes along. During the trip, several guests are murdered. The wrong man is naturally suspected. Honey knows better but she cannot prove it and doesn't yet know who the real killer is.
On the island, she continues her investigation, dodging assassins and winning at strip poker in order to get information out of a group of young men. On the return boat trip, Honey finally exposes the real killer, in the process also exposing his true identity, which is a doozy.
A word should be said about Fickling's ambivalent regard for Honey. She is at once a sex object and also a person, and Fickling likes her in both ways and even seems to be identifying with her at times. There is a recognition that Honey is intelligent, resourceful and suffering from the memory of her father's murder years before the novel begins. In some sense, Forrest "Skip" Fickling himself is Honey, at least when he isn't modeling her after his wife, Gloria, whom he incidentally first met on Catalina Island where part of this novel is set. (Mrs. Fickling denied the legend that she helped with the writing; she said, "I was more the sounding board and the technical advisor," giving Mr. Fickling tips on women's clothing and accessories. However, she did admit that she helped to create the character and name of Honey West.)
December 6, 2009
A tired, lifeless entry in the Honey West series of mystery novels. Only worth reading to learn that the rest of the West novels should be skipped, and for a breif Othello reference. My notes follow:
G. G. Fickling (pseudonym for Forrest and Gloria Fickling)
Kiss for a Killer
Reprint: 1960, 2005
Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press
Page 165
Private Eye Honey West is talking to Ray, a man she is attracted to, but who is also a murder suspect. She threatens to turn him over to the sheriff. Though having spent very little time with West, Ray tells her, "I'm in love with you." She replies, "So was Othello in love with Desdemona before he strangled her." This is the only Shakespearean reference in the book, which was originally a Pyramid paperback published in 1960, now part of a series of crime novel reprints from Overlook Press.
G. G. Fickling (pseudonym for Forrest and Gloria Fickling)
Kiss for a Killer
Reprint: 1960, 2005
Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press
Page 165
Private Eye Honey West is talking to Ray, a man she is attracted to, but who is also a murder suspect. She threatens to turn him over to the sheriff. Though having spent very little time with West, Ray tells her, "I'm in love with you." She replies, "So was Othello in love with Desdemona before he strangled her." This is the only Shakespearean reference in the book, which was originally a Pyramid paperback published in 1960, now part of a series of crime novel reprints from Overlook Press.
February 1, 2016
Honey West's occasional date, Quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is run over by a steam roller. She investigates, and runs into a cult of psychotic nudists, hypnotism, and an Italian actress.
Never resembles anything like reality, but still very entertaining.
Never resembles anything like reality, but still very entertaining.
September 27, 2010
Do not waste your time reading this book, unless you are looking for a horribly written book!
September 15, 2010
Definitely a product of it's time but also quite fun. A quick read and an intriguing mystery. Recommended for any Philip Marlow or mike hammer fans
June 23, 2015
very good hard to understand at time because of the characters and locations. but if you like old thriller mysteries with hard core ladies this book is for you.
March 27, 2017
This is the second Honey West book I've read and I found it reasonably enjoyable. Primarily because of Honey West herself.
At that the time this was written, Honey was the closest thing we had to a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer, which was what the authors were aiming for. It's an approach that seems dated now, in an era of movies and TV shows featuring women who kick ass and take names later.
Even so, it's an entertaining mix of dead bodies, a nudist colony, and hypnotic suggestion. A weird and wacky, but interesting entry in the series.
At that the time this was written, Honey was the closest thing we had to a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer, which was what the authors were aiming for. It's an approach that seems dated now, in an era of movies and TV shows featuring women who kick ass and take names later.
Even so, it's an entertaining mix of dead bodies, a nudist colony, and hypnotic suggestion. A weird and wacky, but interesting entry in the series.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews