Douglas Stapleton (1907-1972) and his wife Dorothy Tucker Aden Stapleton (1917-1970) collaborated on radio shows, short stories, a Broadway play, and mysteries. I have been unable to locate a bibliography but The Corpse Is Indignant (Five-Star Mysteries, New York, 1946), Late for the Funeral (Arcadia House, 1953), Corpse and Robbers (Arcadia House, 1954), and The Crime, the Place, and the Girl (Arcadia House, 1955) are part of their output. First editions of these titles are nearly impossible to find.
In 2023 Coachwhip Publications reprinted what seems to be their last mystery novel, The Crime, the Place, and the Girl. It is based on the Stapletons’ experiences in Hollywood. It is a stand-alone mystery, which is unfortunate because it has series potential. Narrated by Peter Hack, who is officially the publicist for Loeb Films but he serves as unofficial troubleshooter and dogsbody for Jacob Tobias, the studio president.
At the splashy premiere for the latest Loeb offering, the crowds go wild, trying to reach the stars on the red carpet. In an amusing segment Hack critiques the performance of the people he paid to crash security to get to the actors. One girl whom Hack did not know was striking, a desperate look on her face as she pushed past the police, only to be firmly returned to the crowd. Tobias was enchanted by her expression as he viewed the video later and told Hack to find her. No name, no identifying data at all, just one young woman in a crowd, so Hack created a news release, asking for the public’s help in identifying the girl so that Loeb could make her a star. By the next day the close-up photo clipped from the video was on the front page of dozens of newspapers.
When he next sees her face, it’s in a photograph, one of dozens in a collection held by a dead blackmailer. Someone else has identified her as leaving the blackmailer’s house just hours before his body is discovered. The police consider her the logical suspect and are searching for her. Hack is one step ahead of them because he has learned her name. All he has to do is find her.
His search involves a great deal of alcohol and any number of taverns and speakeasies, mostly in company with Tom Brady, Loeb’s Western star in full cowboy regalia including a white Stetson. Brady drives them from nightspot to nightspot in an enormous heavy car, which ends up crashing through the front window of one of the bars.
Great characters, even the minor ones are vividly drawn. I especially liked Amelia Alwyn, owner of Loeb Films, who flies west when her studio ends up in the newspapers. In the very best mystery tradition, the culprit turned out to be a complete surprise. A highly readable period piece.