The Dead Beat

Published by Popular Library in May of 1961

After an attempt at blackmailing LaVerne, a nightclub singer and former partner in crime, ends in a beating, Larry Fox is left unconscious in a car belonging to nice middle-aged couple Walter and Elinor. Rather stupidly, they take him into their home to recover. Fox tells them he had been given a funny cigarette and bumped his head as he passed out. They believe him.

And its all downhill from there. Larry charms the couple (especially Elinor), and they invite him to stay. Walter goes off on a business trip and, when searching through the house, Larry finds his gun in a drawer in the study. Thus armed, he begins new attempts at blackmailing LaVerne, bringing in the bell-hop from their old stomping ground (an old junkie) in - only for him to be killed, rat poison in his heroin as it turns out.

Larry and Elinor attend a party at the Whittacker's place. Jill, their teenage daughter is quite taken with Larry, much to Elinor's disgust - she is becoming interested in him herself. Larry manages to get into a fight there, and they leave. Jim Whittacker, the girl's father, knows from the start that there is something wrong about Larry, but can't really put his finger on exactly what it is...

Back from the party, Larry drugs Elinor's drink, thus knocking her out at the point where she was about to try and get Larry into her bed. Instead, he pays another visit to LaVerne, and the following day, events start to move fast, what with Jill and Larry vanishing and the body count increasing...

This is a mass market paperback with a lot of condition issues, but it appears complete and is signed by Bloch on the inside front cover as pictured below.