Solomon's Vineyard

Banned from publication in the U.S. due to its mature subject matter, Solomon's Vineyard is a tense, hard-boiled work starring Karl Craven, a non-nonsense guy who predates detectives like Lew Archer and Mike Hammer. Craven is out to rescue a wealthy heiress from a twisted cult. The novel's famous opening passage -- FROM THE way her buttocks looked under the black silk dress, I knew she'd be good in bed. The silk was tight and under it the muscles worked slow and easy. I saw weight there, and control, and, brother, those are things I like in a woman. I put down my bags and went after her along the station platform --explains why this book was too hot for domestic publication. (Initially published in 1941 in the UK, a heavily bowdlerized version came out in the '50s, but the less said about that one the better.) Review "Jonathan Latimer is the best kept secret in noir fiction. One of the great unrecognized masters." -- Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition About the Author Jonathan Latimer was the author of Murder in the Madhouse and Lady in the Morgue, and the screenplays The Big Clock and The Glass Key. He wrote scripts for Perry Mason. William L. DeAndrea is the author of The Hog Murders and a three-time Edgar Award winner. Version : 4.0