Dead on the Level

Simon Drake #1

by Helen Nielsen

As in her sensational first offering, Helen Nielsen has again come up with a fast-paced and remarkably readable mystery. It begins when a gorgeous girl makes an incredible proposal, and ends when a would-be fall guy unearths some low schemes in high society - while solving a murder to save his own skin. The action is smooth, tough and colorful all the way.

Genres: Mystery, Noir, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Helen Nielsen was author of mysteries and television scripts for such television dramas as "Perry Mason" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".
She studied journalism, art and aeronautical drafting at various schools, including the Chicago Art Institute. Before her writing career, she worked as a draftsman during World War II and contributed to the designs of B-36 and P-80 aircraft. Her stories were often set in Laguna Beach and Oceanside, California where she lived for 60 years.
Some of her novels were reprinted by Black Lizard, including "Detour" and "Sing Me a Murder".

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the classic pulp era of the 50's, you could probably count the women pulp writers on one hand. However, if you were so inclined to count them, you absolutely have to include Helen Nielsen on that short list. Nielsen wrote pulp and mysteries just as good as anyone from that era and her books are just fantastic reading. If you enjoy reading Gil Brewer, Talmadge Powell, and Harry Whittington, you ought to give Nielsen a try.

Her 1951 work, "Dead on the Level," contains all the classic pulp motifs, including a drunk man returning to town after eight long years and "drinking up his last handful of dwindling dollars," "this gorgeous doll (with eyes like purple smoke) [who] had come slithering into the cocktail lounge," five thousand dollars in cash, a blackout as to what happened the night before, a dead man, and a missing heiress.

This book is pure pulp from the first page with the protagonist thinking that life was a sour deal "with a beginning you didn't ask for, an ending you couldn't help, and nothing in between that would even sell at a charity auction."

And this girl was something else. Casey Morrow didn't have enough dough left to even buy her a drink, but she sat down and bought him one. She had eyes like purple smoke, "a cascade of taffy- colored hair," and a scent of spicy perfume enough to make him dizzy. Whatever proposition she had offered him, he must have accepted because he woke up the next morning with five grand in his pocket and half the police force of Chicago hunting for him.

It is a terrific pulp novel and amazingly one of Nielsen's earliest works. It is easy to read as the writing just drags you in without giving you much of a choice. It is short as was typical of novels in the early fifties. Primarily a mystery with a dead body, a drunk without a memory of what happened, and the most ravishing femme fatale of them all. I highly recommend this work.

[WJEP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rule: The one with the Luger is the bad guy.

Casey is a garden-variety patsy. He gets sloshed and is framed for murder. The first chapter, the set up, was intoxicating. For the rest of the book, Casey tries to clear himself by finding the real murderer -- a familiar predicament. Helen Nielsen has a few novel tricks, but overall I was not particularly stimulated.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so the mysterious beauty who wants to marry the poor sucker of an MC might be film-noir cliche, but Nielsen takes it beyond that and writes a darn good story.

This book may be hard to find, but it's worth looking for -- and into! :)

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fabulous Gold Coast Nocturne. Very good prose, a wonderfully twisty plot. A cut above.