Hooded Detective: 6 Action Packed Pulp Detective Stories


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.1 stars; 25 reviews)

Evil lurks in the hearts and minds of men and many nefarious schemes are hatched by these gangsters, mob bosses and super villains. But thankfully, equally brave, talented detectives (some of them hooded) are there to track them down and thwart their twisted plans. These six stories, along with two "true fact detective shorts" were in the magazine Hooded Detective, January 1942. Are they well written? well, no, but they are fun. Here are a few of the blurbs: "They had expected spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, but were served instead, hot lead, with a little bit of blood on the side...." (A Dinner Date with Murder) "Wilson Lamb cuddled his automatic to play "Mr. Death" and fingered little Louis Engel for coffin cargo. But when he pulled the trigger, Whisper the gun-cobra from Chi spilled out of Doom's deck.." (Candidate for a Coffin). How can you top that last sentence? - Summary by Phil chenevert (3 hr 23 min)

Chapters

Candidate For A Coffin 47:11 Read by Dan Gurzynski
One Hundred Bucks For A Stiff 37:15 Read by Dan Gurzynski
Death is Deaf 19:09 Read by Delmar H Dolbier
Three Guesses 37:11 Read by Dan Gurzynski
The Cop Was A Coward 26:41 Read by Scotty Smith
The Strange Case of William Long: A true case detective short 14:11 Read by Deon Gines
A Dinner Date With Murder 8:54 Read by Jennifer Fournier
Artistic Murders Misfire: A true case detective short 12:50 Read by Larry Wilson

Reviews

Uneven but some gems within


(3 stars)

As pulp detective stories go, the half dozen in this magazine have some longevity. The first tale "Candidate for a Coffin," is classic noir complete with sassy lines of narration that made me smile. I really enjoyed "One Hundred Bucks for a Stiff", the second story in the collection most of all; it had a bit more humor and a very Sherlock-feel to it. "Death is Deaf" didn't leave much of an impression and "Three Guesses" was needlessly twisty in its delivery. "The Cop was a Coward" had a lot to say about gun control and trigger-happy cops that could still hold true today. A "Dinner Date with Death" suffered somewhat from dated stereotypes, but was also the shortest piece in the collection. The two true crime stories, less so. In part the true crime tales lose some punch because the readers for those two pieces were more difficult to listen to, for different reasons.

Thumbs up! I was surprised!! :-)


(4.5 stars)

Much better than I thought it would be. Each chapter is a short, complete story with main character differing in each. Last chapter has a "don't commit murder like this or you'll get caught" section. Might be necessary for some to read :D Different narrators did well.


(4 stars)

not bad. no hooded detective though