Pulp Poem of the Week

He was thirsty,
but mostly he was hungry.
Supper last night had been
a doughnut and a cup of coffee.
Breakfast today had been
a notch taken in his belt.

Floyd Mahannah
Stopover for Murder
1953

Book Review: Floyd Mahannah, Stopover for Murder (1953)

Rufe Baylor, an itinerant engineer, is on his way to a job in Alaska when he gets off a bus in a small California town. Short on money, he agrees to serve as a stiff in a fixed boxing match, which he somehow manages to win, thereby incurring the wrath of the boxing promoter. To this point--about 25 pages into the novel--Stopover for Murder seems a pleasant noir lite, but it soon morphs into a fairly traditional whodunit that Rufe must untangle. Grade: C+