Readers of this blog and of my reviews on Goodreads know I enjoy the overtly cheesy pulps of yesterday, with Carter Brown, the extra cheesy cheese on top of the heap. The Black Lace Hangover (published 1966 by Horwitz) features my favorite character created by the Aussie pulp hack, in Danny Boyd, the debonair private eye with 'the' profile.
In this installment (each book in the series can be read independently of one another), Boyd finds himself nursing a killer hangover, only it's not just his head which feels like murder! Enter Lucia, a luscious trespasser who brings more curves to Danny's life than her extravagant body displays thanks to a murdered 'uncle' and a complex crime caper involving the mob, kidnapping, killing, and double crosses aplenty.
These kind of books are hit or miss and in the early stages, The Black Lace Hangover seemed like it was tracking in the direction of the latter, however, I was pleasantly surprised when this seemingly shallow plot deep dived into darker depths. Boyd's investigation/part in the scheme of things evolved into something much more complex than promised by synopsis which not only kept true to the whodunit theme but also kept me second guessing who the villains were. As an added bonus (semi-spoiler alert), Boyd's' secretary, a fiery and highly competent redhead, Fran, makes an appearance in Velda*-like fashion to aide Boyd in solving the case.
Overall, The Black Lace Hangover is a pretty good pulp, loaded with all the requisite stereotypical elements and aided by an ever evolving plot which makes this one of the more 'meaty' Danny Boyd books.
I rate this a solid 4/5 stars.
*Velda is Mike Hammers' secretary in the long running hardboiled P.I series by Mickey Spillane and more recently, Max Allan Collins.
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