Fingers crossed that he gets away with murder and gets the woman of his dreams.īut, of course, in these stories it does not generally (if ever) work out as planned. It is so mixed up and so complicated that no law enforcement officer could possibly figure it out.

Now this is right where things get a bit dicey because Charley thinks he is the cleverest guy on earth and that he is so damn smart no one can see through him and his plot for murder is the damnest thing you ever heard. Whittington skillfully offers up their hot passion and their sullen frustration with Cora's very existence. Well, as luck would have it, one thing leads to another and things get hot and heavy with Laura and soon there are two of them who want the damn wife out of the way so they can live off her fortune and do what they want 24/7.

She is too much of a distraction and he knows that, if she sticks around, pretty soon he is going to be closing up shop so they can personally work on dictation at all hours of the day and night. Meanwhile, back at the office, Charley thinks he has to fire his secretary, Laura. But, she won't give him a divorce no matter how bad it gets between them. Thing is though Charley hates Cora, hates her with a capital H and wants a divorce so badly he can taste it. And, eventually that gives him fits.Ĭharley is a lawyer and married to pretty much the richest woman in town, Cora, a name that appears repeatedly in Whittington's literature. Charley Brower is the central character here and, like most ordinary working guys who think they can pull off a murder, Charley quickly finds that he is way over his head and not necessarily cleverer than anyone else. At 128 pages, it is not just long enough to get you absorbed in its spell, but not so long that you get bored. 'Web of Murder' is one of those succinct little gems that Whittington would throw out in his heyday.

Strange Bargain by Harry Whittington