Jim Bennett
Created by Robert Martin (pseudonyms: Lee Roberts; 1908-1976)

Cleveland, Ohio's own JIM BENNETT was a rarity in detective fiction in the fifties -- a happily-married man. Thomas Dewey, Bart Spicer and James M. Fox are about the only other writers of this period that seemed to stray from the whole lone wolf/P.I. thing. His long-suffering wife was Sandy, who used to serve as his secretary.

A good series, solid, and pleasingly Chandleresque, unfortunately all-but-forgotten now, but one I've always enjoyed. Martin served his apprenticeship in the pages of the pulps, most notably Dime Detective, and it served him well when he moved to books.

UNDER OATH

• And speaking of Chandler pastiches, does anybody remember a writer named Robert Martin? I thought some of his early books were about as good as the ones by Browne/Evans, though later on the books went way downhill. I thought Sleep, My Love was pretty good, but some of the later books (reprinted by Curtis in paperback) were a severe drop-off. I believe Martin also wrote some Gold Medals as Lee Roberts.
  (Bill Crider on Rara-Avis, June 2001)
  .
  Yes. Under the Roberts pseudonym, he wrote several books about crime-solving Dr. Clinton Shannon.

SHORT STORIES

• "G.I. Doublecross" (March 1945, Dime Detective)
• "Killers Can't Be Careless" (November 1946, Dime Detective)
• "Wake of the Willful Wife" (August 1947, Dime Detective)
• "Death Gives a Permanent Wave" (October 1947, Dime Detective)
• "Pardon My Poison" (April 1948, Dime Detective)
• "Dolls of Death" (July 1948, Dime Detective)
• "She, Me and Murder" (November 1948, Dime Detective)
• "A Shroud in Her Trousseau" (June 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Deadliest Dame in Town" (September 1949, Dime Detective)
• "Slayers Go Solo" (November 1949, Dime Detective)
• "I'll Be Killing You" (Febrruary 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Sheath Your Claws, Hellcat!" (April 1950, Dime Detective)
• "Slayers Burn Slow" (November 1950, Dime Detective)

NOVELS

• Dark Dream (1951)
• Sleep My Love (1953)
• Tears for the Bride (1954)
• The Widow and the Web (1954)
• Catch a Killer (1956)
• Hand-Picked for Murder (1957)
• Killer Among Us (1958)
• A Key To The Morgue (1959)
• To Have and To Kill (1960)
• She, Me, and Murder (1971)
• Bargain for Death (1972)
• A Coffin for Two (1972)

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.