What do you think?
Rate this book
Web of Murder
Book by Whittington, Harry
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
2 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Harry Whittington
179 books42 followersHe also wrote under the names Ashley Carter, Harriet Kathryn Myers, and Blaine Stevens, Curt Colman, John Dexter, Tabor Evans, Whit Harrison, Kel Holland, Suzanne Stephens, Clay Stuart, Hondo Wells, Harry White, Hallam Whitney, Henri Whittier, J.X. Williams.
Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
.
Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.
His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 23, 2024
12/2019
From 1958
The ending was stupendous. Very suspenseful with amazing twists. Not original perhaps or unpredictable. But just perfect.
From 1958
The ending was stupendous. Very suspenseful with amazing twists. Not original perhaps or unpredictable. But just perfect.
September 21, 2022
"Web of Murder" is one of those succinct little gems that Whittington would throw out in his heyday. At 128 pages, it is not just long enough to get you absorbed in its spell, but not so long that you get bored. Charley Brower is the central character here and, like most ordinary working guys who think they can pull off a murder, Charley quickly finds that he is way over his head and not necessarily cleverer than anyone else. And, eventually that gives him fits.
Charley is a lawyer and married to pretty much the richest woman in town, Cora, a name that appears repeatedly in Whittington's literature. Thing is though Charley hates Cora, hates her with a capital H and wants a divorce so badly he can taste it. But, she won't give him a divorce no matter how bad it gets between them.
Meanwhile, back at the office, Charley thinks he has to fire his secretary, Laura. She is too much of a distraction and he knows that, if she sticks around, pretty soon he is going to be closing up shop so they can personally work on dictation at all hours of the day and night. Well, as luck would have it, one thing leads to another and things get hot and heavy with Laura and soon there are two of them who want the damn wife out of the way so they can live off her fortune and do what they want 24/7. Whittington skillfully offers up their hot passion and their sullen frustration with Cora's very existence.
Now this is right where things get a bit dicey because Charley thinks he is the cleverest guy on earth and that he is so damn smart no one can see through him and his plot for murder is the damnest thing you ever heard. It is so mixed up and so complicated that no law enforcement officer could possibly figure it out. Fingers crossed that he gets away with murder and gets the woman of his dreams.
But, of course, in these stories it does not generally (if ever) work out as planned. And, perhaps, just perhaps, Charley has planned things too complicated and created too many angles and just maybe it will get the best of him.
What Whittington does brilliantly though is take the reader through the process through Charley's eyes and see things as he does, feeling his joy, his agony, and his eventual outcome.
Charley is a lawyer and married to pretty much the richest woman in town, Cora, a name that appears repeatedly in Whittington's literature. Thing is though Charley hates Cora, hates her with a capital H and wants a divorce so badly he can taste it. But, she won't give him a divorce no matter how bad it gets between them.
Meanwhile, back at the office, Charley thinks he has to fire his secretary, Laura. She is too much of a distraction and he knows that, if she sticks around, pretty soon he is going to be closing up shop so they can personally work on dictation at all hours of the day and night. Well, as luck would have it, one thing leads to another and things get hot and heavy with Laura and soon there are two of them who want the damn wife out of the way so they can live off her fortune and do what they want 24/7. Whittington skillfully offers up their hot passion and their sullen frustration with Cora's very existence.
Now this is right where things get a bit dicey because Charley thinks he is the cleverest guy on earth and that he is so damn smart no one can see through him and his plot for murder is the damnest thing you ever heard. It is so mixed up and so complicated that no law enforcement officer could possibly figure it out. Fingers crossed that he gets away with murder and gets the woman of his dreams.
But, of course, in these stories it does not generally (if ever) work out as planned. And, perhaps, just perhaps, Charley has planned things too complicated and created too many angles and just maybe it will get the best of him.
What Whittington does brilliantly though is take the reader through the process through Charley's eyes and see things as he does, feeling his joy, his agony, and his eventual outcome.
June 5, 2015
Nasty, brutish and short, just like a good noir should be.
June 18, 2011
Actually this is a re-read. Goodreads doesn't offer a button choice to indictate thus.
Mr. Whittington wrote a bunch of noirs. This one is generally acknowledged as his cream of the crop. It reminds me of Westlake's early noirs.
Mr. Whittington wrote a bunch of noirs. This one is generally acknowledged as his cream of the crop. It reminds me of Westlake's early noirs.
September 12, 2010
Out of the ten or so of Whittington's novels I've read, I would put this one as the best of the bunch. Nice building of tension to a terrific ending.
May 12, 2013
Ah, the twisted joys of the noir roman, or as we might say in the US, the "dime store pulp novel," though there are no more dime stores, are there? A "genre" of crime fiction related to the "hard-boiled" detective literature, but generally told more from the criminal's perspective, these novels are american existentialism at it's best and down-dirty!
Harry Whittington's story of how he became a writer is worth reading for a glimpse into another time; the glory days of the "pulps" which generally can be said to have run from just after WW II to the mid-60s. I am old enough to have been an adolescent and young man when the reprints of such "classics" from folk like Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, and Whittington were plying their trade. Whittington wrote over 150 novels in 20 years! I can't say I've read many of them, but Web of Murder alone earns him a place in the pantheon of "dime-store Dostoevskys."
The man can plot! And I'm not about to divulge the exciting, surprising and engrossing intricacies of this story, but I will say that there are many times where I just had to stop, take a breath and let a sentence really sink in. With all I've read in this "genre," I don't think I've ever come across a line like the following, that I will leave off this review with, that felt like a cold sweaty chill, evocative of the very 'essence' of noir and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the noir world:
"You'll never be so lonely as on a highway driving with a corpse on the back seat."
Harry Whittington's story of how he became a writer is worth reading for a glimpse into another time; the glory days of the "pulps" which generally can be said to have run from just after WW II to the mid-60s. I am old enough to have been an adolescent and young man when the reprints of such "classics" from folk like Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, and Whittington were plying their trade. Whittington wrote over 150 novels in 20 years! I can't say I've read many of them, but Web of Murder alone earns him a place in the pantheon of "dime-store Dostoevskys."
The man can plot! And I'm not about to divulge the exciting, surprising and engrossing intricacies of this story, but I will say that there are many times where I just had to stop, take a breath and let a sentence really sink in. With all I've read in this "genre," I don't think I've ever come across a line like the following, that I will leave off this review with, that felt like a cold sweaty chill, evocative of the very 'essence' of noir and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the noir world:
"You'll never be so lonely as on a highway driving with a corpse on the back seat."
November 16, 2009
Probably the best plotter of all the Gold Medal-era guys.
October 5, 2025
Web of Murder is a brisk read. It doesn't short-change the reader. It is an enjoyable story from its time.
The plot centers on Charley's complex juggling act with three very different women: his wife, Cora; his secretary and lover, Laura; and a suitor, Victoria. The storyline is well thought out, delivered with the snappy dialogue characteristic of the genre. True to pulp nature, the murder scheme quickly falls apart, transforming a simple plan into a complicated tangle.
I was immediately hooked. The solid dialogue and clear story made it a quick, enjoyable read. Early, seemingly offhand details are cleverly woven back in, becoming significant parts of the final scheme. The ending was surprising; as a reader of mysteries, I would describe it as having a "comic book" finale: a stunner that wouldn't feel out of place in House of Mysteries or Tales from the Crypt.
The plot centers on Charley's complex juggling act with three very different women: his wife, Cora; his secretary and lover, Laura; and a suitor, Victoria. The storyline is well thought out, delivered with the snappy dialogue characteristic of the genre. True to pulp nature, the murder scheme quickly falls apart, transforming a simple plan into a complicated tangle.
I was immediately hooked. The solid dialogue and clear story made it a quick, enjoyable read. Early, seemingly offhand details are cleverly woven back in, becoming significant parts of the final scheme. The ending was surprising; as a reader of mysteries, I would describe it as having a "comic book" finale: a stunner that wouldn't feel out of place in House of Mysteries or Tales from the Crypt.
June 18, 2019
Web of Murder is a vintage crime noir novel from 1958 that takes off at a clip, reminding me of Double Indemnity. Charley Brower, a successful attorney, is miserable in his marriage to wealthy Cora and devises a plan with his secretary and mistress Laura to murder Cora and live happily ever after with her fortune. The fast paced build up in the first half petered out a bit in the second half as my modern eyes, which have read a lot of books and seen even more movies, could clearly see the holes in Charley's "perfect" murder scenario and I had a hard time believing this supposed brilliant lawyer came up with such a weak plan. But the plot did pick up again with a few unsuspected twists.
July 12, 2021
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the book, but I couldn't help thinking I've seen this done a bit better before.
Whittington's Web of Murder and Charles Williams' Hell Hath No Fury aka The Hot Spot, I think, tie for second-place for this sort of story. For me, first place is a tie between Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice, both by James M. Cain. Somehow, Cain was able to hold my sympathy for his scumbag narrators in a way that Whittington and Williams could not.
Whittington's a hell of a storyteller and this book moved like a bullet, but it doesn't score a place on my essential reading list for him.
Whittington's Web of Murder and Charles Williams' Hell Hath No Fury aka The Hot Spot, I think, tie for second-place for this sort of story. For me, first place is a tie between Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice, both by James M. Cain. Somehow, Cain was able to hold my sympathy for his scumbag narrators in a way that Whittington and Williams could not.
Whittington's a hell of a storyteller and this book moved like a bullet, but it doesn't score a place on my essential reading list for him.
March 29, 2020
Un clásico dentro del género misterio/novela negra. Muy recomendable.
June 14, 2024
From a plot perspective, really unremarkable as far as Black Lizard Press type books go. Well written, just unremarkable.
June 12, 2016
A perfect book for the long weekend! Short and easy to read. I have been aware of Harry Whittington for a while now, but this is the first book of his that I have read. He was a prolific writer of "paperback originals" during the 1950's, and established a reputation as a skilled crime noir plotter. My sense is that Whittington is still popular among collectors of vintage paperbacks, but has since been forgotten by everyone else.
The story-line is evocative of James M. Cain's "Postman Always Rings Twice." There are, of course, many differences, but it's the same kind of book. The main character, a lawyer, is in a lackluster marriage and foolishly falls for his secretary. He wants his wife's money so he begins to plan her demise and gets the secretary involved. He has a few smart ideas about how the get the job done, and also a few stupid ideas, too.
He doesn't exactly get caught, but he does pay for his crime. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I will say there are some hard-hitting twists and turns and revelations before the story concludes, and I do acknowledge Whittington's skill. He fully deserves his reputation.
This book is a worthy addition to the library of any crime noir fan.
My two favorite lines are:
"You'll never be so lonely as on a highway driving with a corpse on the back seat." (pg. 57)
"One of the worst tortures yet devised for man is having to pretend ardor for a woman he despises." (pg. 76)
The story-line is evocative of James M. Cain's "Postman Always Rings Twice." There are, of course, many differences, but it's the same kind of book. The main character, a lawyer, is in a lackluster marriage and foolishly falls for his secretary. He wants his wife's money so he begins to plan her demise and gets the secretary involved. He has a few smart ideas about how the get the job done, and also a few stupid ideas, too.
He doesn't exactly get caught, but he does pay for his crime. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I will say there are some hard-hitting twists and turns and revelations before the story concludes, and I do acknowledge Whittington's skill. He fully deserves his reputation.
This book is a worthy addition to the library of any crime noir fan.
My two favorite lines are:
"You'll never be so lonely as on a highway driving with a corpse on the back seat." (pg. 57)
"One of the worst tortures yet devised for man is having to pretend ardor for a woman he despises." (pg. 76)
February 15, 2011
Clever Cain-inflected Gold Medal noir thriller. Can the plot in which a "perfect murder" is planned in the first half of the book and unravels in the second half ever grow stale? Whittington knows that economy is the key to suspense. This book kicks down the door and takes off at a race. The perfect murder in this case could have been planned out better - as Whittington brings up late in the book, how could Charley expect to get Cora's money after she divorced him? But the ending is particularly ingenious and makes right the few wrong notes. Not Whittington's most stylish novel, but a really fine one all the same. I would take this one filmed by Fritz Lang.
January 12, 2025
As novels of this kind go, this is a bit generic, not at the level of Jim Thompson or Charles Willeford. Still, it's brisk and enjoyable with a bitter ending that I should have seen coming, but didn't. A great weekend read.
July 19, 2012
Light, frothy. Would be a lot of fun to produce.
January 12, 2008
classic treat
Want to read
September 11, 2018Synopsis: a man and a woman plot the perfect murder, but it's easier to plot than actually carry out.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews