Case of the Vanishing Beauty (Shell Scott #1) (1950)

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by Richard S. Prather


A woman hires private detective Shell Scott to find her missing sister, but the case becomes more complicated after she is murdered, and Shell follows the trail through nightclubs, rackets, religious cults, and other disreputable corners of Los Angeles. 


It may seem like a familiar setup, but Richard S. Prather handles it well, planting clues in plain sight and then drawing them together cleanly at the end. 

Richard S. Prather

Scott is much breezier than the more dour hardboiled detectives who crowd this genre, and he relates the action in a humorous first-person voice that is often very funny and consistently entertaining. 


He also seems to actually enjoy being a private eye, which is a nice change from heroes who treat the job as a form of spiritual punishment.


 It is also refreshing that he is on reasonably good terms with the police instead of constantly snarling at them or teetering on the edge of losing his license every few pages.

"A Folding Seat in Paradise" (French)

 Prather gives LA real presence, and the cult material adds a strain of Southern California weirdness. 

"The Gallows Bird" (German)

From what I understand, many readers consider these early Shell Scott novels relatively mediocre, but if this is one of the lesser entries, then I must have some great reading ahead of me because I really enjoyed it.

"And the Dolls Die" (Greek)



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