Wade Miller is actually the writing team of Robert wade and Bill Miller. They also wrote under a number of other psuedonyms, including Whit Masterson. Murder Queen High was one of their earliest published novels (1947) and is simply not the polished work that their later books were. At times, it feels like an off-kilter parody of a serious pulp novel. There are parts of it that are David Lynch Blue Velvet odd and kitschy. Although it is fun to read, the beginning of it is too mysterious and later it gets a bit silly plot-wise. It takes place at a resort in the California desert called Azure, which appears to be Palm Desert beneath the Santa Rosa Mountains and near the old highway 99, which originally ran from the Mexican border at the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to the Oregon Stateline. It has a lot of nostalgic feel to it including a couple winning a radio contest, their marveling at the fancy resort, and a reporter sitting poolside waiting for movie stars to show up. It is filled with pulp motifs like the innocent nearly-newlywed couple (John and Sin Conovers) being mistaken for someone more sinister and getting involved up to their ears in some nefarious dealings that they just can’t comprehend. There are hoods shoving their way into their motel room and blonde bikini-clad starlets straight out of the funny farm. There are slightly crooked cops and sinister bellhops, shootings behind nightclubs, and a secret ranch where the husband part of the newlywed couple is dragged by the blonde slightly-crazed nymphette who gets kookier and kookier each drink she guzzled down. There are people wandering around town in crazy costumes and all kinds of mysterious groups after something they think the Conovers have. Despite all the pulp clichés and weirdness inhabiting the small resort in the California desert, this book fails to measure up to the standards of the Wade Miller/ Whit Masterson body of work. Enjoy this goofy tour of the desert, but don’t let it be your last Wade Miller novel. ( )