The
Honey West Files Volume One (Detective Mystery)
By
G.G. Fickling
ISBN
#978-1936814176
Price
$19.00
444
Pages
Rating
4 Stars
“A
Classic Female Private Detective”
This volume contains
the first three Honey West novels by man and wife writing team of G. G.
Fickling during the late 1950s. The cover features Ann Francis, the actress who
portrayed the character on the short-lived 1960s TV series.
In “This Girl For Hire”.
when an old-time comedian is found murdered, and he was Honey’s client (we’re
never told why he hired her), it’s a personal case for the Hollywood private
detective. Returning to her office, she finds another man already there, he
wants to hire Honey to look for the murderer among the television crew where he
works, and the comedian had worked before his death. There are plenty of
suspects, from the producer to the director, and the members of the crew. Honey
is signed on as an actress to allay suspicion, but they quickly know she’s a
private eye. And no sooner than she takes the case than more people are
murdered. Each suspect seems to be eliminated with each death, and all the
suspicion settles on one person in the end. But Honey isn’t satisfied. This is
a good first mystery for Honey West, and the story is fun, though maybe a
little over played.
In “A Gun For Honey”. A Horror
movie director Rote Collier has hired Honey to protect his daughter from the
Kissing Killer in Shark Beach. He’s throwing a big New Year’s Party, and is
afraid the killer may strike at his daughter or young wife Helene. There has
already been two kissing deaths. No sooner than she arrives at the party,
pretending to be a model, than the young wife is found dead – murdered by the Kissing
Killer. This was the first Honey West story I ever read, and it was very
enjoyable, a good mystery, and plenty of suspects. Honey does have trouble
keeping her clothes on, but it isn’t a nasty book, merely done in humor for
most purposes. The plot was right out of the pulp magazines, in particular The
Phantom Detective. Like The Phantom, Honey meets all the suspects right at
first, then at the end of the story she gathers them all together where she
uncovers the killer – just like The Phantom Detective and many other pulp
detective stories.
In “Girl On The Loose”, late one
night, Honey is mysterious kidnapped from her office forced into a Marine
uniform then driver to a Marine base. Outside the post her abductor is gunned
down and Honey is next, but she escapes. The Marines take her into custody as a
deserter named Cylvia, but notifies the sheriff’s department about the killing
off Post. Lt. Mark Stephens picks Honey up, and tells the incident at the
military Post isn’t the only thing strange. At the time of the killing, in San
Francisco the baby of a rich heiress is also kidnapped, and the perpetrator
looked a lot like Honey West. Of the three novels I’ve read so far, this is the
best one to-date. Though, after all is said and done, why the Honey West kidnapper
had ever joined the Marines is still a mystery. She was a nurse, a racketeer’s
moll, and working with a hidden mastermind. The bit with the Marines was just
added dressing for the story. Still, a lot of fun, and the best so far.
Honey West is an iconic early
female detective series the authors hoped to compete with the popularity of
James Bond. I’m glad to see these books back in print, but the trouble with
Moonstone is their editing. There are many typos in this volume that should
have been corrected, and this copy was a sale copy, so it should have been
ready for the market. Still, readers will find the story lots of fun, and the
book is worth checking out.
Tom Johnson
Detective Mystery Stories
