Pick Up A Pulp [27]: BLONDE ON THE ROCKS by Carter Brown

Rick Holman is a Hollywood private eye with an eye for dames and danger. In Blonde On The Rocks, the lone-wolf crusader is hired by black-listed starlet Della August to find out why she's be hexed by the film industry, and as a side dish, to look into the circumstances surrounding her partners apparent suicide - its the film angle that matters more for Della which naturally rubs Rick the wrong way, that, and the fishy tale she's been feeding him - something doesn't add up and it's up to Rick to do the math.

Unlike most Carter Brown mysteries with series-established protagonists (Danny Boyd, Al Wheeler etc.), this Rick Holman mystery has a strong sense of continuity with preceding volumes, and while it does read well as a standalone, there are some characters who would've read better with having context of the earlier books. I've read a few Holman mysteries but couldn't place some of the characters who pop up here in there; namely police officers and film bit-players.

Blonde On The Rocks is pretty much what you'd expect from a pulp published in the 1960's (1963 to be exact); dames to die for, a protagonist to root for, a mystery to sink your teeth into, and a list of suspects each with something to gain from Della's partners death. Set amid the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, this book makes for entertaining reading; sex sells and the Rick Holman mystery cashes in.

My rating: 3.5/5 - nothing unexpected but a damn fun piece of pulp. 

If you liked this, you may want to check out one of my favorite pulps, The Scarlet Flush. Click on the link to read the review.

Pick up a Pulp [14]: The Scarlet Flush by Carter Brown