Murder and the Wanton Bride is just about everything you could want out of a hardboiled pulp-era mystery. It starts with a crazy setup of a street execution of a run-of-the-mill boring bank executive while Shayne is having a romantic interlude with his secretary Lucy Hamilton. But very quickly Shayne is involved up to his eyeballs in this crazy case with Miami Beach Chief Peter Painter ready to throw the book at him. Murder, adultery, blackmail round out the festivities here.

Belle Carter is introduced as one of the most voluptuous sirens ever to grace the pages of pulp fiction. "Belle Carson was a lot of woman. Long-legged, full-breasted, slim-waisted, she was a symphony in green and black as she stood facing Shayne in the hallway, sultry lips parted and sharp upper teeth showing, and there was the clean, acrid smell of gin in the air between them." Every mention of her oozes femme fatale, lushness, drunkenness, and Southern charm.

This Shayne mystery is full of action from start to finish. You would think it would get old with Shayne always running one step ahead of Painter, but it never does. Indeed, this may just be one of the best of the series. ( )

Godd entry in the long-running PI series. A banker is killed on his way to see Mike Shayne. Mike follows a trail that may lead to bigamy and further murder and a plot to rob the bank.