MINUIT
continuation
French mystery novels collection. 24 titles between 1941 and 1948. Only french writers - even if a translator is mentioned, it is fake. The lack of american crime novels during the Occupation, conducted Georges Ventillard to chargeLouis Chavance to hire french writers. Mission: produce mystery/crime novels that would take place in the USA and sign them with an american name. No sooner said than done. Chavance recruted Léo Malet (Frank Harding, Léo Latimer),Maurice Nadeau (Joe Christmas), Louis Daquin (Lewis MacDackin) and others. Chavance himself signed Irving Ford. Most of them were begginers in the genre and most of them didn’t go further than Minuit. A couple of years later, the raw conditions were more or less overlooked and the usual pulp writers went in.
Among them, Edward Brooker, who also signed Linton Powell. Brooker was a main author for Georges Ventillard. In the 30′s, Brooker had his own collection at Ventillard and was presented as: “being the new Edgar Wallace”!....And well, it is not totally usurpated, though “Edgar Wallace on acid” would suit him better...Whatever, to read Brooker is always a lot of fun.
cover art: Robert Dansler
Publisher: Les Publications Georges Ventillard
Collection director: Louis Chavance
source:amsaklapper’s collection