Frost

Rating:
Summary: Moonlighting meets James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes, sort of
Review: Donald Wandrei was one of the great pulp writers of the late 20's and early 30's. He's best known for his cosmic science fiction and his macabre horror stories, and indeed was a Weird Tales Magazine and Astounding Stories regular. The eight stories in this collection show that he could also write pulp detective fiction with the best of them. His investigator Professor I. V. "Ivy" Frost is a mix of supersleuth, inventor, scientist, and master fighter all rolled into one. Deadly, logical, courageous, and stoic like the more famous denizen of Baker Street, he is also a man with a super gadget or two up his sleeve. In addition he just happens to have a beautiful, brainy, gutsy, blonde assistant named Jean Moray, who has her own advanced degrees AND a garter belt thigh holster complete with pearl handled .25. The slyly humorous romantic/sexual tension between Frost and Moray made the stories as far as I was concerned.

The editors of Clue Magazine asked Wandrei to develop a series character in an effort to compete with the more well known hard boiled fiction of Black Mask Magazine. Wandrei's ratiocinative adventurer quickly became one of the most popular series characters in Clue's history and at one time was in line for a series of motion picture reels. Sadly these never came to pass, nor did a planned Frost novel, but the stories are still exciting and enjoyable examples of pulp mystery and mayhem. The first eight stories are published in this volume, with the remaining ten promised for a future edition. Like all the pulp stories written during this period a little "willing suspension of disbelief" is necessary, but Wandrei's quick action plots and writing take the willing reader on an exciting ride of thrills and suspense. Of these stories all are good, but I would particularly suggest the first one, "Frost", along with "The Artist of Death" and "Merry-Go-Round." However each story in this volume has it's own appeal.

Also, the gorgeous cover illustration of Frost and Moray by Les Edwards is worth the price of the book alone. I'm surprised there isn't a scan of it on the link for the book, since I think it a great selling point. One hopes that perhaps Amazon will eventually add it.

In closing I definitely recommend this book, and am eagerly looking forward to the second collection of Frost tales whenever they come out.

Rating:
Summary: Imaginative and superbly written short fiction
Review: Fans of the old-style pulp mystery/detective fiction will relish Donald Wanderi's Frost, an outstanding collection of imaginative and superbly written short fiction revolving around the adventures of Professor Frost, a picky investigator who chooses only the most challenging cases, and is aided by a beautiful female sidekick. Swift action and unpredictable plots in true pulp style mark a fine selection of of terrific and original adventures by a mastery storyteller.