Backfire

Backfire was a 1959 crime novel by Florida author Charles L. Burgess (1907-1967) that was only ever published in Australia until it was recently unearthed and reprinted by Stark House along with several of his non-fiction true crime magazine pieces.

Martin and Angela Powers are the perfect suburban newlywed couple. He’s a salesman for a cosmetics company and he’s about to learn that someone is trying to kill him. Who would want him dead? He’s not connected to anything shady at all, right?

Martin survives the first attempt on his life from the “pockmarked man” and begins some sincere soul searching to determine the motive for the killer. The police aren’t much help at all, so this is Martin’s mystery to solve.

The author reveals the solution to the reader (but not to Martin) of who is trying to kill him pretty early in the paperback, but the killer’s motivation remains unclear. For his part, Martin hits the road alone to search for answers in his own past that may provide some clues as to his assassin’s motivations.

Backfire is a journey of self-discovery for Martin as he attempts to get closer and closer to the truth of who he is and subsequently the truth of who wants him dead. There are good action set-pieces along the way and Martin trods a logical path. Overall, it read like a an extended crime story from Manhunt with a tidy solution.

Burgess was a talented author of his era with limited fiction output. Thank heavens for Stark House for keeping his work alive and available. 

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The Other Woman

The Other Woman by Charles Burgess was a Beacon Books title from 1960 that has found new life as a reprint from Black Gat Books. It’s a femme fatale crime novel masquerading as a sleazy sex book. The identity and bio of the author remains a vexing mystery with no help from the internet.

The novel itself is pretty solid. Our narrator is Florida real estate agent Neil Cowan who has a buyer for 40 acres on the lake that would be perfect for a new housing development. The buyer is John Royal, a wealthy town patriarch married to Emmaline, his voluptuous and much-younger bride.

Of course, Neil is completely taken by Emmaline. Who wouldn’t be? She’s elegant, smart and sexy. She’s also got the vibe of a woman looking for trouble. Neil is happily married himself, but this is a 1960 sleaze-crime novel, so the rules are different.

It takes no time at all before Neil and Emmaline commence a hot and heavy affair and even less time before she’s suggesting to Neil that murdering her husband will allow them to be together with all his money.

A sizable percentage of books from this era all have the same setup, but The Other Woman takes an abrupt left turn and becomes an honest-to-goodness murder mystery with Neil at the helm of the whodunnit. There are twists and turns and frame-ups and red-herrings and everything you like from a vintage crime thriller.

Burgess was a solid writer and he ties up the plot with a logical and compelling solution. There are hundreds of books from this era about a wrongfully-accused man solving a crime to clear his own name, yet The Other Woman is as good as they come. It’s literary comfort food and an easy recommendation.

About the Author:

The identity of the author Charles Burgess remains a mystery. Here’s what we know:

Novels:

Backfire (Australia, Phantom, 1959)

The Other Woman (Beacon, 1960)

Short Fiction:

“I’d Die for You” (Manhunt, Oct 1958) 

True Crime: as by Charles L. Burgess:

"Never Kill a Cop!" (Complete Detective Cases, Jan 1947)

"Case of the Buck-Happy Brunette" (Revealing Detective Cases, Aug 1949)

"A Killer with Women" (Underworld Detective, Dec 1951)

"Laughing Stranger from Dalton, Georgia" (Official Detective Stories, Feb 1956)

"Fat Man Blues" (True Crime, May 1956)

Paperback Warrior engaged Florida’s most prestigious private investigative firm to locate the author and his heirs. While there were many solid leads, our gumshoe was unable to definitively solve the case. More on this story as it develops. 

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