Safe Return Doubtful

Though a major success for Fisher on its initial publication in 1941, this dark piece of crime fiction has lapsed to be out of print for many years.

Quite inexplicably also that a publisher hasn’t stepped in for a reissue, as it has something of a cult status. It has been called the classic Hollywood novel, based on a corrupt detective that is supposed to be fellow crime novelist, Cornell Woolrich.

It is a Southern California mystery about a film promoter suspected of murdering an upcoming female star. The real skill here is in earning the reader’s sympathy for a protagonist on the run from an obsessed, corrupt and single-minded police detective who is determined to pin the murder on him.
Prior to this, Fisher wrote six other mystery novels, under three different names, without any degree of success. But it is clear that he learned from them, as in this he writes sharp, short prose that moves the plot quickly, and a snappy and captivating dialogue that is typical of the best pulp fiction.
Evident also, is Fisher’s love for Hollywood. Though he struggled to earn any sort of a living prior to this being published, he was not to look back after its release. Hollywood it seemed, now loved him back.

The novel was adapted for two films noir, a 1941 version directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable, and Laird Cregar, and a 1953 remake entitled ‘Vicki’, directed by Harry Horner and starring Elliott Reed and Jeanne Crain.

With its setting in the heart of the Hollywood movie scene, and that it is an actual whodunnit, it is a genuine rarity in the pulp genre.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5