The Saint Mystery Library #128

# Saint Mystery Library No. 11 (February 1960)

This issue collects five mystery stories edited by Leslie Charteris. The lead novella is Rufus King's "Let Her Kill Herself," set at an upscale motel on Florida's Gold Coast in February. It involves Ernest Dean, a wealthy but troubled young man controlled by his domineering widow mother; his girlfriend Alice Spang (similarly controlled by her own mother); Ernest's "watchdog" Bert Jackson, a well-mannered man who reports to Mrs. Dean; the exotic Miss Theda Sangford; and Miss Fernandez, an observant woman with premonitions. Jimmy Hart, a night bartender, witnesses the tense social situation as Ernest confesses his emptiness and self-loathing to Alice while both their mothers manipulate them through feigned heart conditions.

"Find One Cuckaboo" by Harlan Ellison features private eye Sheckley Scodell—one blue eye, one black eye patch, gun permit—hired to find the killer of one of the mad Sadler sisters.

Additional stories include Leighla Whipper's "This Above All" (a publisher maneuvered into an uncomfortable position), John Jakes' "Ten Lost Bombs," and Judith Merril's "Dry Dust" (about a thirsty man rewriting history).