No-Frills Books was an endeavor by Jove publishing in 1981 created by a guy named Terry Bisson (the science fiction author) who walked through the supermarket one day and decided books could be wrapped in generic packaging just like the off-brand mac 'n' cheese on the lowest shelf. Talk about out-of-the-box thinking. But the idea was more than just not having to pay cover artist, the idea was to distill a genre into it cover elements and cliches. To have the tongue in the cheek and have hungry young writers crank out 18,000-word tales that briskly broke a whole genre down to its basics. It was mac 'n' cheese, but the cheese would be powderier and the noodles tougher. The ingredients were there but you might have to be in on the joke to eat it or be broke enough.
So, we got Western, Science Fiction, Romance and the topic of the day here, Mystery. As you can see the books looks like a beer in Repo Man and simply tells us: "Mystery - complete with everything: 'Detective, Telephone, Mysterious Woman, Corpses, Streets, Rain.'" And isn't that all you want in a private eye novel? Apparently before it got sacked there was also going to be a No-Frill Bestseller and a No-Frills Movie, tackling bloated airport books and the No-Frills Movie seemed to be a screenplay. Both sound interesting.
Clark Dimond was behind Mystery. He worked in and around publishing it seems, working on Warren Publications like Eerie and Creepy and apparently in the art department of True Detective magazine. He was also involved with Web of Horror, a competitor of Warren. He didn't seem to write much which is a shame, music seemed to be his main interest (which must have helped in writing Mystery) and had his own recording studio.
Mystery is a private eye novel. A pure-pulp private eye novel. Something that would have been at home in Dime Detective or Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. But it also has a little bit of 80s punk rock too it. An un-named detective gets involved with a sinister recording, one that hypnotically puts people in trances. The Dick rushes around, finding attractive singers, masked killers, shady record players, hypnotists, evil doers while eating beans for breakfast, and gin and tonics in the evening. He's got a .38 in a shoulder holster and some snark. The titular mystery is a little easy, but there's enough twists and turns to keep it all flowing. Everything the cover promises it delivers, which is actually better than some painted covers! This feels like a hip-Roger Corman produced 80s detective movie complete with corresponding soundtrack on vinyl and cassette. It's Kiss Me Deadly for the MTV generation.
It's obviously a brisk read, that was part of the idea. Recently I covered the 90s Dime Novel Predator which tread similar ground. Both concepts were designed to attract the customer with a gimmick. No-Frills had their mostly blank covers while Dime Novels were tiny, like, you know, a dime. Now eBooks shave similar stuff, books designed to be quick reads without a lot of challenge...sort of like cracking open a Black Mask in 1935. But no one has really seemed to fully crack the egg and make it popular. I wouldn't know how to either if I'm honest. Some sort of chip implanted into your brain? I.V. novels? Book-Tok or whatever that is?
Bottom line is that Mystery was a super fun read. There's very little in the way of time commitment. I read it one morning over a couple of cups of coffee and it was a nice way to start the day, a little extra pulp for your diet to get you going.
