Dial "M" for Man by Orrie Hilt

20something Hob Sampson is struggling to carve out a life in 1950s as a TV repairman outside of NYC. He's got a no account friend named Ben, a sometime girl Kathy, and a hard on for this blond he spotted in a bar.

She's the wife of Ferris Condon, 40yr her senior, builder of homes and substandard apartments. Years ago, Ferris tried to bribe Hob's dad, the town's housing inspector, but failed. Now Ferris is on the bank's board and when he learns that Hob wants a loan to buy the building he's in and to start up a new venture known as 'cable' nixes the application.

Ferris's wife Doris is one hot dish and needs a TV repaired and starts to put her charms on Hob and Hob being young and horny falls hard even to the point of hurting genuinely decent Kathy. Doris knows Hob is an easy mark and convinces him to kill her husband so she can gain access to his money so they can high tail it to California.

Pulp. Pure pulp. This came to me from the publishers of MRB fav Charlie Stella as part of a the Stark House Sleaze Classics (2 Hilt books in one binding. Other title is The Cheaters). Orrie Hilt was fueled by coffee and cigarettes and churned out novels on his manual typewriter. Today, we get excited when a favorite writer puts out a book a year (can you spell  Lee Child?). In his prime, Orrie turned out paperback pulp every two WEEKS. Orrie's list of titles contains about 150 books under his name or a couple pseudonyms, including writing as a lesbian author. Actually pretty entertaining. A definite departure from our normal fare and a bit of an education in pulp noir.When I'm waiting on the library, I'll probably check in on The Cheaters for another dose of pulp.