Robert Leslie Bellem was a prolific American writer who wrote in a variety of genres and for many pulp magazines, especially those of Culture Publications that included mastheads such as “Spicy Detective,” “Spicy Adventure,” “Spicy Western,” and “Spicy Mystery.” After the demise of the pulps, Bellem started writing for television and contributed scripts to shows such as “The Lone Ranger,” “Adventures of Superman” (1950s version), the original “Perry Mason,” “77 Sunset Strip,” and others. His most famous creation was the hardboiled detective Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, who narrates the stories in the first person in a racy, slangy style that made them very popular at the time. Bellem also wrote at least two novels, of which the best known is “Blue Murder.”
“Stars Die at Night,” “Half-size Homicide,” “Riddle in the Rain,” and “Stock Shot” are from the archives of “Speed Detective” and complement the “Spicy Detective” magazine Dan Turner stories already available in eBooks from Book Revivals Press. Although less laced with sex, they are all written in the same hard-boiled slangy style that made Bellem one of the most popular pulp writers, and Dan Turner one of the most popular pulp characters. In fact Dan Turner would become so popular that his stories appeared in two dedicated magazines: “Hollywood Detective” and “Dan Turner—Hollywood Detective.”