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Benson, Ben

Page history last edited by J F Norris 10 years, 10 months ago

Benjamin Benson (1915-1959) was born in Boston and seriously wounded during Army service in WW2. He began writing as therapy, and produced nineteen detective novels featuring Trooper Ralph Lindsey and Inspector Wade Paris of the Massachusetts State Police.

 

Bibliography

 

Wade Paris appears in

Alibi at Dusk (1951)

Beware the Pale Horse (1951)

Stamped For Murder (1952)

Lily in Her Coffin (1952)

Target in Taffeta (1953)

The Burning Fuse (1954)

The Ninth Hour (1956)

The Affair of the Exotic Dancer (1958)

The Blonde in Black (1958)

The Huntress is Dead (1960)

 

Ralph Lindsey appears in

The Venus Death (1953)

The Girl in the Cage (1954)

The Silver Cobweb (1955)

Broken Shield (1955)

The Running Man (1957)

The End of Violence (1959)

Seven Steps East (1959)

 

Other Books

The Black Mirror (1957)

The Frightened Ladies (1960) (two novelettes)

 

 

Comments (6)

Jim Benton said

at 7:55 am on May 5, 2013

This list and others list "Pale Horse" as the first book, but according to the blurb on the Unicorn Mystery Book Club Edition, "Just as he did in ALIBI AT DUSK..." implying that that was the first book. Which is right, and could someone edit this to show which books are Paris and which are Lindsay?

Jim Benton said

at 1:04 am on May 6, 2013

After a morning's research: The character is Ralph Lindsey not Lindsay, ALL the ordering within years is dubious (check Bantam pbs -- they all were picked up -- for months of pub), and FRIGHTENED LADIES is two (non-series, I believe) novelettes. THE VENUS DEATH is 1st Lindsay -- and fifth novel. I was unable to find charactrs fr STAMPED, NINTH HOUR, or EXOTIC DANCER; BLACK MIRROR lists "Trooper Bradford" on cover; Lindsey appears in VENUS, GIRL IN CAGE, SILVER COBWEB (3rd Lindsey), BROKEN SHIELD, THE RUNNING MAN, END OF VIOLENCE and 7 STEPS EAST, others are Wade Paris.

Jim Benton said

at 2:02 am on May 14, 2013

Thanks for trying, but -- I have some of these books -- Hubin can be as inaccurate as others. (I'll be spending a LOT of time correcting thses lists and doing reviews if time permits over the next year.) You STILL list PALE HORSE as the first, when it was ALIBI AT DUSK. (I am awaiting the UMBC volume with ALIBI, but it seems obvious that it introduces Paris and PALE HORSE 'humanizes' him somewhat. Again the best way is to find someone who actually owns the books -- ideally in Bantam pbs which listed months of publication. I wish I were that person, but only have five books, and at least one is missing the publisher's info.)
Benson did not create any other series -- not sure if THE BLACK MIRROR was an attempt to do so -- because of his early death in 1959.
I'll begin reviews on the early Bensons as soon as I get the first UMBC volume and read ALIBI. (The UMBC is proving as valuable as the books are as enjoyable and I'll be doing as many as possible on books included or series that are represented, from the delightful Dana Chambers to the fascinatingly awful MV Heberden.,

Jim Benton said

at 11:25 am on May 14, 2013

And, to finally prove that 'that parrot is pushing up daisies,' I received ALIBI AT DUSK today. It is described as a 'first novel' in the UMBC blurb. I think, hate to say it, but #s 3 and 4 may be reversed as well.

J F Norris said

at 5:41 am on May 15, 2013

My copy of Hubin, the second revised edition, does not distinguish the sequential order of any series. I rely only on bibliographic data in the book which is 99% accurate in the 2nd ediiton. The first edition (with 1975 as the publication date end) is littered with errors and oversights. I also double check on info I can find on book dust jackets and copyright info in the book itself. I do not own any of Benson's books so I was going on Hubin alone. Order has been fixed to reflect the info you provided in your comments. (I deleted my previous comment, BTW)

Jim Benton said

at 5:38 pm on May 15, 2013

Thanks, sorry to be a bit of a pain on this -- will try and do some good reviews to make up for it if I can figure out the vast mystery of the source code. Now on to some other fascinating tangles...

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