The Frightened Fiancée

George Harmon Coxe

Nov 2011 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

 A jilted lover finds himself implicated in a murderDIVWhen John Holland proposed to his girlfriend, Tracy, she imposed a 31-day waiting period before they could see each other again. It’s day 30, and Holland travels to her Long Island home for their reunion, only to receive the shock of his life when he meets Tracy’s fiancé, Roger Drake. Tracy’s mother invites Holland to stay there and win back Tracy’s love, and within a few hours, Drake is dead./divDIV /divDIVAs it turns out, Drake was a private detective hired by Tracy as a test for her beloved—and it looks like Holland failed. Meanwhile, Drake’s boss, hardnosed detective Sam Crombie, descends on the home, looking to avenge his comrade./div

About the author

George Harmon Coxe (1901–1984) was an early star of hard-boiled crime fiction, best known for characters he created in the seminal pulp magazine Black Mask. Born in upstate New York, he attended Purdue and Cornell Universities before moving to the West Coast to work in newspapers. In 1922 he began publishing short stories in pulp magazines across various genres, including romance and sports. He would find his greatest success, however, writing crime fiction.DIV /divDIVIn 1934 Coxe, relying on his background in journalism, created his most enduring character: Jack “Flashgun” Casey, a crime photographer. First appearing in “Return Engagement,” a Black Mask short, Casey found success on every platform, including radio, television, and film. Coxe’s other well-known characters include Kent Murdock, another photographer, and Jack Fenner, a PI. Always more interested in character development than a clever plot twist, Coxe was at home in novel-writing, producing sixty-three books in his lifetime. Made a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America in 1964, Coxe died in 1984. /divDIV /div