Gault wrote a number of pulp mysteries besides his two detective series featuring Joe Puma and Brock Callahan. This one has at its focus a staple of pulp fiction: the innocent guy who wakes up and realizes that all the evidence points to his having murdered the pretty corpse, but he can't remember for nothing whether or not he did it. Gault does one even better here and makes this chump a mean boxer who was nearly out of control in the seventh through ninth rounds before he took off with this dame. Mixing boxing and murder can only lead to a great read and it certainly dies here. Luke Pilgrim is a great character. ( )