Crack Detective and Mystery Stories, December 1956

About this issue

This issue of Crack Detective and Mystery Stories (formerly Famous Detective Stories) contains six mystery and crime stories. The lead novel, "Kill the Wench Dead!" by H. C. Butler, involves a protagonist pursuing a woman named Paula/Estralita, a former Chicago dancer connected to dope-smuggling, until murder intervenes. Wade B. Rubottom's Kirk Lowe story, "Blonde Mantrap," features a private investigator encountering a woman named Jacquie Jayne. "Rude Rune" by Lucian Stark concerns kidnapped girls and involves a character named Archer. Julius Elman's "Snow Trap" examines whether Laura Fay works for the mob. Additional stories by Basil Wells and Stephen Dentinger round out the fiction. The issue includes non-fiction features: "Annals of Crime" by A. A. Hoehling on Dr. Crippen, and "The Armchair Criminologist" by Lewis Fell examining arguments for and against capital punishment. The issue also advertises mail-order novelty items and correspondence courses.