Title: My Pal, the Killer / Scratch a Thief
Author: Chester Warwick / John Trinian
Cover artists: Uncredited / Uncredited
Yours for: $11
Best things about this cover:
- Font!
- I love that guy. "Dames ... probably expects me to walk over there and see if she's OK. Shows what she knows."
- She looks like she keeled over mid-mambo.
- The flowers near her ankles are lovely and delicate. Nice, incongruous touch.
Best things about this other cover:
- "I" dot = clown nose
- I love how perspective has been wildly manipulated here. Eyeline = assline. Plus, he's doing that "I can see behind me" thing that only exists in soap operas and book covers.
- If that title is playing on "To Catch a Thief," that's terrible. Not as terrible as the puke-green background color, but pretty terrible, nonetheless.
Page 123~ (from My Pal, the Killer)
He nodded. Even in the poor light I could see the grimness of his face. He said, "I got the idea, watching you two together, that you were attracted to my daughter. I hope so."
This was the introduction of a new (and sadly short-lived) stock figure in American crime fiction: Inappropriate Dad.
~RP
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