Interesting news via Rara-Avis. Harlequin (the romance publisher) is reprinting some of their old crime novels with the original covers.
Unfortunately, more details are hard to come by. Here’s a list of the (first?) six titles from Amazon:
- I’ll Bury My Dead by James Hadley Chase
- Virgin with Butterflies by Tom Powers
- You Never Know with Women by James Hadley Chase
- No Nice Girl by Perry Lindsay
- Kiss Your Elbow by Alan Handley
- Pardon My Body by Dale Bogard
I don’t think I’ve read any of these authors before, but the whole set looks intriguing and I’ll be picking them up just as soon as I’m gainfully employed.
Maybe Harlequin hasn’t ramped it up yet, but as of now the marketing for these books is appalling. If I hadn’t stumbled across this at Rara-Avis, I wouldn’t know the books were out there. There is no dedicated website–how much work is that? There isn’t even a dedicated page at the Harlequin site, so far as I can tell. I fear that the line will fail because no one will know it exists.
If anyone out there has read any of these, please comment.
Update: These books have been bowdlerized. See the comments for details.
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True, I’ve not heard a word about any of this. I’m glad I found this blog. I’d buy the books just to have the covers. I’ve not read any of them, but I’d like to, just to compare to newer books. Thanks for the info!
-Jessica
The marketing of this collection is as appalling as it is curious. I won’t speculate here, other than to say the lack of focus is in keeping with the way the publisher has for many years been treated its origins. That said, I’ve managed to find this publisher’s page about the ‘miniseries’. Enjoy!
The books are getting good, high profile distribution and have point of purchase displays at Barnes & Noble! Hard to miss! I’m reading PARDON MY BODY right now (about half way through). Excellent so far! The author is the story’s protagonist.
All of them are available as ebooks – Deisel’s website has them in a collection, for under $25, depending on the format. The display is great, you can see all the covers and read the first chapters there:
http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/BP-8527162180
A sad piece of news.
In response to my inquiry regarding November’s titles, I received the following from Harlequin’s customer care:
Hello Brian:
Thank you for your inquiry.
The Vintage Collection was a one time shipment.
At the present time, there are no plans to reissue more vintage books.
If you have any further questions or comments, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Angela
The books have been tampered with by the fine folks at Harlequin-in other words edited with a 2009 sensibility-
http://harlequinblog.com/tag/collectibles/
Alex:
Thanks for pointing that out. What a shame. As one of the commenters points out, these books are read by adults who are perfectly capable of understanding that times are different now. I was going to pick these up but am now reconsidering.
Here’s the link to where they brag about editing the books to spare you from political incorrectness: http://harlequinblog.com/2009/10/the-harlequin-vintage-collectiona-lesson-in-patience/
I’ll be tweeting this as well.
Truly you have done well i would love to read these books especially those 0f James Hadley chase.you never know with women and i will bury my dead.