Rip Kirby #4

In "Stark Night of the Soul," Rip Kirby delves into a tangled web of old flames and new alliances when former leading man Byron Delight attempts a comeback alongside his new partner, Pagan Lee. With tensions flaring between Delight’s ex-wife Noreen, his secretary Flora, and the mysterious Pagan, the discovery of a body in Pagan’s burned cottage sends Rip on a trail through secrets and simmering resentments.

In "Two Men and a Baby," Rip and Desmond find themselves entangled in a high-stakes mystery when a panicked woman thrusts a royal infant into Desmond’s arms before vanishing. As they uncover the baby’s true identity and the dangerous political intrigue surrounding him in the distant country of Mythania, the trio must navigate a web of deception and betrayal—racing against time to protect the child, even as the law demands they hand him over.

In "The Eyes of Kismet Kildare," Rip Kirby finds himself entangled with a woman whose charm hides a sharp, personal vendetta. When Kismet Kildare uses her allure to manipulate him, Rip is left reeling—not just from the betrayal, but from the mystery of a past crime that may have been twisted by someone close to her.

When a blackmailer targets his daughter, Carno turns to Rip Kirby for help—kidnapping Desmond to force Rip’s hand as their jungle cat carnival tours Europe. With danger on the road and secrets in the shadows, Rip must unravel a threat that’s as cunning as it is personal.

In "Hep to the Jive," Rip Kirby takes on a high-stakes case at Ma Casino, where big winners are vanishing into the night—robbed right after their payouts. Disguised as a lounge pianist, Rip uncovers a slick operation where the band's music itself is a coded signal, guiding thieves to their next mark.

In "The Laugh's on Giggles," TV comic Giggles Magee pulls out all the stops to win Joan, the dancer he's smitten with, even as her brother Eddie's gambling debts threaten to derail everything. When Giggles stages a fake robbery to catch Eddie in the act, he thinks he’s secured his happy ending—but soon finds his scheme unraveling when both Eddie and Joan vanish without a trace.

In "Brain vs. Brawn," Rip Kirby is drawn into a high-stakes mystery when he’s hired to locate the long-lost granddaughter of a deceased millionaire—her inheritance hinges on it. The trail leads to the South Seas, where the girl has become a self-reliant schooner captain, unaware of her fortune. But Brawn Adair, the unlikely heir, is hot on Rip’s heels, determined to keep her from reclaiming what’s hers.

In "Double in Diamonds," the Mangler, posing as Ernest Welles on a safari, spins a deadly deception to steal a hidden fortune in diamonds meant for Welles’s daughter, Angela. When the password fails to unlock the cache, Angela’s growing unease draws in Rip Kirby to unravel the truth behind the impostor.

In "Zero Tolerance," Jo finds herself caught in a web of deception when a seemingly simple job as a seamstress on a transatlantic voyage takes a dangerous turn. When a stolen rose from a gown reveals a hidden microfilm, Jo’s momentary lapse—spilling coffee on the flower—sets off a chain of events that leads to her being targeted by the ruthless Madame Zero.

In "Cat Amongst the Pigeons," a down-on-his-luck makeup artist teams up with a smooth-talking con artist to swindle a wealthy widow using a fake fountain of youth, aided by a struggling actress and clever prosthetics. When the butler of the target woman recognizes one of the grifters, the trail leads straight to Rip Kirby, who steps in to unravel the scheme.