The Sleeping Cupid/Hell Is A City

[batman]

I just finished reading these two great paperback thrillers.



The Sleeping Cupid is the only Man In A Suitcase novel and is a rattling good read. McGill is up to his armpits in smuggling, gang rivalry and murder in downtown Venice. The writing is evocative and the characters interesting enough to make this one a real page turner. Highly recommended.



Hell is a City is Maurice Proctor's first Inspector Martineau film. Proctor was a policeman himself so the police procedural side of things is very authentic. Grant(Man)chester is the setting for an exciting tale of robbery, murder, lust and a few other themes tucked in to keep things ticking over nicely. It lacks the frenetic pace of the film version (one of my favorites) but this allows for a few extra characters and greater back stories for those we already know. Proctor wrote several books about Martineau and the ones I have read are excellent, including this one. Highly recommended.

[smudge]

I've had a copy of Sleeping Cupid for many years - never got round to it, so I shall follow up on this recommendation...



Cheers Bats.



Smudge

[Lord Brett]

Sleeping Cupid used to be legendarily hard to find. A friend of mine spent years in the 1980s trying to find a copy and I can still remember the first time I found one in a charity shop after years of searching. I've got three copies now and still haven't read it!

[billy bentley]

Bats, what year was "Hell Is A City" first published ?

[Lord Brett]

Fantastic Fiction lists it as 1954.



Here's a link to their listing for Maurice Procter: Maurice Procter