I adore the pulp cover for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear, unfortunately out of print...

BLOT: (05 Jul 2011 - 10:48:35 PM)

I adore the pulp cover for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear, unfortunately out of print...

I double-plus heart hardboiled pulp covers, especiall the kind chosen by Hard Case Crime, the paperback (and now semi-digital) imprint that specializes in reprinting hardboiled classics as well as new novels in the same theme. You probably know the basic gist of the art: long legged, thin, busty women with flowing hair and a look of danger about them (often by them either carrying a gun, being juxtaposed with a fast car, or being in some sort of danger). Just look at the covers for Somebody Owes Me Money, The Corpse Wore Pasties, The Murderer Vine, and, a personal favorite of mine: Baby Moll. However, it is the cover for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear (i.e. the fourth Holmes novel) that makes me giggle the most. Especially the "Best-Selling Author of THE LOST WORLD" and "They all answered to... The BODY-MASTER" bits:

Alas, this is one of the books that disappeared with with the Dorchester Publications meltdown (LGT: Brian Keene's call to boycott along with links, towards the beginning, of him chronicling the problem). They are supposed to restart publication in a few months, maybe it will show back up because I would love to have it in print.

OTHER BLOTS THIS MONTH: July 2011