Talmage Powell (1920-2000) was one of the all-time great mystery writers of the pulp magazines (and later the digest mystery magazines). He claimed to have written more than 500 short stories, and we have no reason to doubt him -- we are working on a bibliography of his work and have documented 373 magazine stories so far...and who knows how many are out there under pseudonyms or buried in obscure magazines? He wrote his first novel, The Smasher, in 1959. He went on to pen 11 more novels u...

Talmage Powell (1920-2000) was one of the all-time great mystery writers of the pulps (and later the digest mystery magazines). He claimed to have written more than 500 short stories (and I have no reason to doubt him—I am working on a bibliography of his work, and so far I can document 373 magazine stories...and who knows how many are out there under pseudonyms or buried in obscure magazines!)HER DAGGER BEFORE METHE WIND OF FEARMURDER GOES TO THE DOGSTHE BEAUT...

Late summer in a sleepy South Carolina mill town, where heat shimmers and gossip travels faster than truth. A prosperous young bachelor stumbles on a vision he cannot shake: a dark-haired stranger rising from a hidden creek, water beading on her bare skin like diamonds. By nightfall, he has been introduced to her at a neighbor’s dinner table; within weeks, he is utterly lost.The girl carries a shadow. She spent three years in a private sanitarium after a family tragedy, and she fea...

A private detective hired to investigate a husband's death that was ruled a suicide tangles with mobsters—and a missing dog.

Nick Ramey, a gangster money handler, finds himself at the wrong end of a bellhop's gun, when he's robbed of a case full of money. But Nick may have the last laugh after all!

Welcome to the second volume of The Black Cat Mystery Community’s "Thrillogy" series, celebrating classic mystery short stories. This time we focus on the work of Talmage Powell (1920-2000). Included are:EASY MARKLIFE SENTENCEREWARD FOR GENIUSAt the beginning of his career, Powell published, under his name and many pseudonyms, more than 200 stories in top crime and mystery pulp magaziness like Dime Mystery and Black Mask Mystery Magazine. After the collapse of...

Veteran detective Odus Martin believes there’s always somebody who cares about a death, that no one is truly alone. When he and a rookie investigate the death of a shy orphan with no friends, they discover her landlady, her boss, and the head of the orphanage are indifferent to her. Who will care this time?A definite change of pace for Talmage Powell!

Three frightened people waited in that darkened room. Three, and a grim unwanted guest—Murder! A classic mystery story.

Sometimes a criminal is too big for the police to touch, or for any one man to tackle. That’s when murder becomes…

" Jim Lassiter rode his long trail patiently, for he knew that, to an honest man, the time to kill may also be—a time to die!"

The story is told through a series of classified ads, which begin with an advertisement of a rich bereaved widow looking for a renter for her estate. Further ads show evidence of a possible conspiracy and the marriage of the widow, Mrs. Thelma McCarson and the tenant, Mr. Larry Summers...

Fred started the motor but didn’t put the car in gear right away. “It won’t happen here, Marcia. I believe in Leacock. And Leacock understands. He knows I can’t take on the job and do it halfway.”A crime novella originally published in the May, 1960 issue of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.