Hangman's Hat

“Hangman’s Hat” by Paul Ernst: Pocket Books, 1953. As good as his “The Bronze Mermaid” in 1952 was, this novel is even better. Paul Ernst, the pulp author famous for such series as THE AVENGER, writing as Kenneth Robeson, is writing paperback mysteries now, and is good at them. In “Hangman’s Hat” we have two Army buddies from WWII, one from the East Side, the other from the Gravy Train – in particular, the Leighton Soup Empire. William Harper (yes, I caught the name of Doc Savage’s aide) is from the East Side, while Brooke Leighton is the son of soup king, Junius Leighton. After the war, old man Leighton wants Bill Harper to continue looking after his wayward son, keeping him out of trouble. Harper is the only man big and tough enough to keep the big boy under control. Then one night it all comes tumbling down. One of his girlfriends is found murdered, and witnesses claim to have seen Brooke at her apartment. And he isn’t anywhere to be found. Then rumor mentions a second person may have been with Brooke, throwing suspicion on Harper. With Lt. Ryan keeping a close watch on Harper, he and Brooke’s little sister, Shirley do some snooping, trying to find her brother and force him to turn himself in. They don’t believe he’s guilty, even if everything points to him. A $60.00 hat may bring the case to a close, but not before a second murder, and several bumps on the head. This was a fun story, and one of the best up to this point. I only had part of the mystery figured out, and at times doubted my own suspicions.

The Bronze Mermaid

“The Bronze Mermaid” by Paul Ernst. An early paperback from Pennant Books by pulp author Paul Ernst. Ernst was the author of THE AVENGER series under the Kenneth Robeson house name. With the pulp magazines drying up, he moved into the paperback field with modern mysteries. In “The Bronze Mermaid” our protagonist is Sam Cates, an ex Marine now working as an insurance adjuster for Home Protection Insurance Company. Previously, he had handled the case of the home robbery involving the Duysberg diamond and other jewelry. In that case, the police had found the niece of Senator Keppert tied up and gagged, and the safe robbed. Cates investigated, and figured it was an inside job, and believed the niece to be involved, but without enough evidence, the insurance paid off. Now, several months later, Cates is leaving a French café in New York when he spots a young girl walking down the street. She looks familiar, so he follows her out of curiosity. When she enters the Club 50, a run-down nightclub, he steps in behind her, coming face to face with Ellen Keppert, the suspicious niece in the jewel robbery. She accuses him of following her, and then hires him as an escort, and they enter the club. After excusing herself for a few minutes, someone calls the police about a murder, and the girl is again a suspect. Cates finds the Duysberg diamond in his pocket, and knows the girl slipped it in after he had been searched. So the new murder is tied in with the old jewel robbery, and his suspicion of the niece is heightened even more as the number one suspect.  A clue is a bronze mermaid gift from Sea City, a resort and vacation town. I’m not sure how many novels Paul Ernst wrote after the moving from pulps to paperback/hardbacks, but this was a very good modern mystery. Although mystery lovers should be able to figure who the killer is right away, and it lacked the fast, wild action of Paul Ernst’s earlier pulp stories. Still, it was a good read.