But these are all serious books. I'd like to recommend
Frank
McAuliffe's Augustus Mandrell, the killer-for-hire narrator
of OF ALL
THE BLOODY CHEEK, RATHER A VICIOUS GENTLEMAN and FOR MURDER I
CHARGE
MORE. They were published between 1965 and 1971 by
Ballantine, and
had at least two editions (w/ different covers), the second
being a
"uniform" edition of numbered volumes "in the Commissions of
Augustus
Mandrell." Mandrell is an incredibly arrogant murderer for
hire
whose stories start right before WW2 in Britain.
Each book contains four quasi-independent stories --
novelettes, but
not always of equal length -- which turn out to be
interconnected.
The first book takes us into WW2. The second takes us out of
WW2,
and the third to post-war America. Each is clever to a
fault
(although I think the third lags a bit; it's hard to top WW2
as either
a backdrop or as an opportunity for clever mischief), but the
second
book is an incredible tour de force. In RATHER A VICIOUS
GENTLEMEN
the four stories appear in reverse chronological order, the
last story
first -- and as one reads each earlier story new implications
and
resonances occur in the previously read stories.
I have no idea who McAuliffe is, or what he's done since
writing these
three incredible books, but I recommend them highly. They are
unique
in mystery fiction, and a great delight to read.
--Ted White
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