“Flora was a writer of substance and style unlike anyone else.” — Ed Gorman

“Flora had remarkable range, successfully producing everything from hardboiled tales to police procedurals to straightforward whodunits to light whimsy to mainstream fiction.” — Bill Pronzini

Fletcher Flora brought a restrained literary sensibility and sensitivity to every story he wrote. His stories that appeared in the pages of Manhunt, Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and a host of others were always special. Some were flat-out good, some were interesting, others wonderful but undefinable. A few I personally consider masterpieces. When writing in the longer form, he was still good, but you had the feeling that when left to his own devices and elegant style of storytelling rather than a big publishing house, he was at his best, more comfortable in his skin. Whether it was a classier style of noir, a straight-up mystery, or a story that defied description, such as In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, Flora brought something special to the table in the short story-to-novelette-length form. Stories like As I Lie Dead and Two Little Hands from the first Fletcher Flora collection of his shorter work, which is sadly no longer available, bear this out. While this second collection might be just a tick below the first, there is some great stuff here that makes for terrific reading.

Some highlights for me:

When you pick this up — and it’s ridiculously inexpensive — pop immediately over to the final story in the collection. It’s called THE AVERAGE MURDERER. Originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in August of 1967, it’s fabulous. In an engaging style that slowly draws you in, this story of two old friends sitting together at the clubhouse after nine holes of golf, discussing a trial in which one was the attorney, the other a juror, is wonderful. I don’t have to have an issue of that digest in front of me to know it had to be the finest story in the August edition.

Then there’s TRESPASSER.

“She was beautiful in black. Even climbing the hotel stairs, flight after long flight upward, she moved with ease and ineffable grace.”

Originally published in the September 1957 issue of Manhunt, Trespasser is a terrific little noir. The novelette begins with an alluring woman in black heading up the stairs to a hotel room. Why isn’t she taking the elevator? We soon discover why, and a lot more, in a tale where not everything is as it first appears. Told by Flora in a smooth and classy style which has sadly gone out of style in favor of over the top brutality, graphic violence, expletive filled pages and narratives filled with unredeemable pukes.

HELL HAS NO FURY goes all the way back to 1953 and the April issue of Dime Detective.

“You’re not thinking well for a lawyer. Like I said, I’m in a frame. It was built by an expert. I’m in it because someone wants me in it, and he wants me to stay there. What do you think would happen if he learned there was a witness who could get me out?” —Hal Decker to Solomon Burr

This crime story/mystery is one sweet ride. Hal Decker is in a jam, so he turns to his old pal, fledgling attorney Solomon Burr for help. Hal’s accused of killing a political bigwig, and the squeaky clean D.A. has a top operative who puts him on the spot at the time of the killing. Hal swears he was never there, and he’s being framed. But when his alibi comes forward, he’s smart enough to know her involvement means trouble for her, and he’s right.

Solomon has a sweetheart of a secretary named Kitty Troop, and a pet spider named Oliver Wendell Holmes (Fletcher referenced him in more than one story — Holmes, that is) hanging around his office, and Kitty plays a big part as Solomon starts shaking the trees. Unfortunately what falls out of them is bodies — and they start to pile up. A trio of dames, all a different hair color, a sketchy eyewitness who seems to have vanished into thin air, and some goons with badges make it rough for Solomon, but Kitty knows an honest cop when she meets one, which may be the key to keeping Sol alive.

This one is an old-time detective yarn where the detective is actually a lawyer. Flora manages to work in several references to Perry Mason, which augment the fun. A fast-flowing narrative, likable protagonists, some good action and self-deprecating humor add up to a great time for the reader in this delicious detective gem that’s a real winner!

Also from 1953 came THE COLLECTOR COMES AFTER PAYDAY, published in the August issue of Manhunt.

“It was the final degradation of a guy who’d never had much dignity to start with.” — The Collector Comes After Payday

Flora takes an unpleasant scenario and makes it so compelling, that despite your better judgement you continue to turn pages, simply because you have to know the outcome of this classily executed yet brutal little noir turned inside out. In another writer’s hands this would have been raw and graphic and distasteful (the only kind of noir modern readers will embrace), but in Flora’s hands the brutality is turned inward, making it emotional rather than physical for the most part.

“Never any luck. He’d even been a loser in drawing an old man — a bas#*rd with a memory like an elephant and a perverted sense of values.”

While not my favorite subject matter thematically, beautifully done and executed.

Then there’s FOR MONEY RECEIVED from the October issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in 1964.

Percy Hand has a crummy office overlooking an alley, and it’s raining when he hears a woman’s footfalls on her way to hopefully hire him. She knows Percy is cash-poor, and though she’s heard he’s not a rocket scientist, she’s also been told by someone he did a job for that he’s honest. Her husband’s having an affair, but that’s not the issue; the problem is that the woman is blackmailing him. His wife, who only overheard part of a phone conversation he had with the other woman, isn’t sure exactly what it is that she has, that her husband wants back. Enter Percy…

Percy’s tail job at a meeting between the blackmailer and the woman’s husband doesn’t go as planned, and next thing you know, one of them has turned up dead. I won’t say more, since I figured out fairly early on what was going on, but it was still terrific fun getting there. Flora was a smooth and stylish writer, his wording and description very visual. Henrietta Savage, an About-Town columnist for a city newspaper, adds a real spark to this novelette. Percy’s gal-pal is hiding some hot stuff beneath her bag-lady attire, even if she does have the disposition of a grumpy polecat. She provides Percy with some background information that helps him finally put the pieces together.

I think a lot of readers will be a step or two ahead of Percy in Money Received, but there is nice atmosphere, engaging descriptions, and the well-drawn Percy Hand, which make this novelette well worth a read.

Though perhaps on the minor end of the stories here, SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL is a delicious little confection published in the September of 1965 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. This short story is laced with black humor and just a touch of the macabre to add balance to the sweetness of the morsel.

Prominent parishioner Clara DeForest, in her fifties but still quite attractive, is visited by Reverend Mr. Kenneth Culling. He’s a fine chap, feeling the need to console Clara despite the delicacy of the situation: her husband has cleaned out their accounts and done a runner to Mexico with a platinum blonde. Reverend Culling is a bit surprised by Clara’s pragmatic approach to the situation, especially as she recounts just how much danger she’d been in before her husband ran off with the other woman.

I really can’t say any more or I’ll spoil it for the reader. Elegantly written and constructed, discerning readers might guess early on where this is headed, but Flora makes it so much fun getting there they won’t want to stop reading.

With 21 stories here, you certainly get way more than your money’s worth, and you can’t say that very often nowadays. Highly recommended! ( )