Mike Shayne's Torrid Twelve

FOREWORD by BRETT HALLIDAY

The twelve stories in this volume have been carefully chosen by Leo Margulies, publisher and editor of the Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, as the best that appeared between its covers during the first four years of its publishing life… prior to 1960.

I agree wholeheartedly with Leo’s selections, and thus I will go farther out on a limb and say that I consider them to be as fine as any published in an American magazine during that four-year period.

There are stories here to satisfy every reading taste. If you like them tough, there’s “Sunday’s Slaughter” by Jonathan Craig and “The Patsy” by Frank Kane. If you’re one of those readers who normally turns up his nose at “women writers,” I warn you not to disregard “The Musical Doll” by Helen Kasson or “The Fifth One” by D. E. Forbes.

“Three Wives Too Many” by Kenneth Fearing is a superb example of this noted writer’s fine craftsmanship, and “Death Dives Deep” I can modestly recommend as one of Mike Shayne’s most interesting personal adventures… one of which appears in every issue of the monthly magazine.

In asking me to write this introduction to his collection, Leo Margulies insisted that I stick my neck all the way out and name my personal favorite.

Fortunately, this is not difficult for me. My vote goes unreservedly to “A Hood Is Born” by Richard Deming. This is fine writing in anybody’s league. Richard Deming is a versatile and prolific writer whose name appears frequently in the top magazines, and on the covers of books. This story is quietly written and beautifully put together. It carries a terrific impact that will haunt your memory long after you put it aside. It is written with understanding and compassion around a theme that is as timely as the headline in today’s newspaper.

So, Leo Margulies and I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy reading every story in this collection from the pages of the Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, and that it will serve to introduce those of you who are not already fans to the high caliber of fiction available to you each month in the magazine.