THE CASE OF THE VANISHING BEAUTY

This first novel featuring wisecracking L.A. private eye Shell Scott, first published in 1950, is a fast-paced caper featuring missing women, dead women, and naked women, against a backdrop of Mexican nightclubs, dope peddlers, and religious cults. Maynard Villers's rich, flexible voice captures the sarcastic wit of the P.I. and smoothly shifts to the voices of attractive female clients, Hispanic actresses and gruff cops. On the downside, Villers's pacing lags; long pauses follow his quickly delivered lines. The no-nonsense story is marred by the noise of flipping pages. Nonetheless, this is a hard-boiled trip down mean streets. S.E.S. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 99]