Judson Pentecost Philips (1903-1989) started his literary career writing short stories for pulp magazines. His first book about Inspector Luke Bradley, Cancelled in Red (Dodd Mead, 1939), won the $1,000 Red Badge Prize and the $10,000 prize for the Dodd Mead Mystery contest. It was published under the name Hugh Pentecost. Philips created 12 series characters as well as a number of stand-alone crime novels writing as Hugh Pentecost and Philip Owen with more than 100 books to his credit. Mystery Writers of America named him a Grand Master in 1973 for lifetime achievement.Â
Every experienced collector avoided Max Adrian’s rare postage stamp business. He knew all the ways to pass damaged stamps off as mint and made a fortune gulling naïve folks who weren’t aware of his reputation. No one was surprised when he was found dead in his office. The police had nothing but suspects. The dealer that Adrian bilked, the daughter of a collector who had spent thousands of dollars during his life on stamps that sold for a fraction of the purchase price at auction, brokers who had been victimized by Adrian’s unsavory practices, the list seemed endless.
Inspector Luke Bradley is particularly interested in Lon Nicholas, the dealer that Adrian carefully swindled, leaving no evidence for legal action. Lon had never recovered from the loss and he had no alibi for the time of interest. Broker Larry Storm is worried about his friend Lon but he’s also concerned about Lucia Warren, whose father had bought a significant number of stamps from Larry, stamps that Adrian was now claiming were misrepresented as to quality and value. Not only is Lucia Warren going to lose a significant part of her inheritance, Larry’s reputation as a dealer is at stake.
Larry spends a lot of his time covering up for Lon and trying to protect Lucia as Bradley investigates what turns into a double homicide. Larry also hides from one of his problem customers Mr. Julius, who carries an old-fashioned ear trumpet but seems to hear just fine when he wants to. Julius is a great character; he becomes helpful when Larry’s office boy disappears.
Anyone who has read Pentecost’s Pierre Chambrun books will recognize the style here right away, even though that series was written thirty years later. Some of the plot twists are predictable but not all of them. A good introduction to Pentecost and a pleasant read for those already familiar with his work.
I never even heard of this Hugh Pentecost series! Thank you, Aubrey. Very interesting!
I think Pentecost created 12 different series, several were short-lived, but his imagination knew no limits.
I remember reading a number of the Pierre Chambrun books from the library but I never found him compelling enough to buy any. He seemed a middle of the road sort of writer. A solid professional but not likely to achieve anything great.
Middle of the road seems like an apt description. He certainly could create characters and worlds for them to inhabit and his output was impressive.