Don Cadee
Created by Spencer Dean (pseud. of Prentice Winchell; 1895-1976)

Not really a private eye, but DON CADEE doesn't seem to know that. He's chief of security for Amblett's, a swankier-than-thou Fifth Avenue department store in New York City. He's tall, lean, tough and dedicated, prowling the store after hours, putting in unpaid overtime, going above and beyond the call of duty, to protect the store, its reputation, and usually his fiancée, who also works in security, and can usually be counted on for getting into at least one jam of sorts per book. Quite a good series, although one does get tired of Don always racing against time to rescue his girlfriend, who seems to be kidnapped with alarming frequency.

And Don isn't just some slick troubleshooter in a suit. He gets right down to it in a series of cases to protect the reputation of "one of New York's finest retail establishments." A fun series.

Spencer Dean's real name was Prentice Winchell (ouch!), who also wrote about upscale house dick Gil Vine and Fire Marshall Ben Pedley, under the pseudonym of Stewart Sterling.

And in an interesting sidebar, it turns out he also wrote a short story or two in the fifties featuring Don Marko, an apparent predecessor of Don Cadee, who worked as Chief of Store Protection at Nimblett's, another swank Ffifth Avenue department store.

NOVELS

• The Scent of Fear (1954; AKA The Smell of Fear)
• The Frightened Fingers (1954)
• Marked Down for Murder (1956)
• Murder on Delivery (1957)
• Dishonor Among Thieves (1958)
• The Merchant of Murder (1959)
• Price Tag For Murder (1959)
• Murder After a Fashion (1960)
• Credit for a Murder (1961)

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. (November 1998)