An early miner work from Williford, back when he was creating his facimilies of the Hard Boiled detective genre. Like most of his work, he takes it just serously enough to make the tale engaging.

A quick read. Good short thriller.

It was a very quick read, and it was a fun story. It had a twist ending that I didn't see coming. I like how Willeford always seems to introduce characters, have them disappear, and then bring them back right when you'd least expect it. They're interesting characters, too, doing things you'd didn't expect.

For me this writer is just as good as Hammett or Chandler. This pulp noir story follows a small time private detective through a hellish journey when he is hired by a mysterious woman. I was gripped from the first page to the last and urge any curious reader to give this short novel a chance.

A rare misfire from the usually reliable Charles Willeford. This novel has its moments, such as its hilarious opening chapter, its potshots at marriage, and some of the send-up material of private dicks, but it never really finds its groove. And unlike Willeford's masterpieces, it doesn't seem to know what it's about. WILD WIVES is a mish-mash of disparate tones and stock characters. For die-hard Willeford fans only.

Pulp Noir is my guilty pleasure and Willeford is as guilty and as pleasurable as their is.

Wow. This is one of Willeford's early novels, barely 100 pages. I'd describe it as 'The Big Sleep meets Double Indemnity.' Rollicking pulp goodness from go to woe.

4.5*

"I liked Florence all right, even if she was nutty."

Well, THAT was quite the read!

Most of this book can be left in the 50’s (misogyny… so much misogyny), but the ending redeemed it a bit.

This is a lesser Willeford. It would have made a decent B-movie or miniseries back in the day. There is a distinct point where it feels like Willeford made the choice to cut the story early and not continue with it, and there are some glaring logical inconsistencies. All told, it's a fine short book to spend a half an hour reading. His longer work is better, probably not a story I'd come back to.