James Hadley Chase

*Title*	*Year*	*Genre*	*Location*	*Remarks*
No Orchids for Miss Blandish / The Villain and The Virgin	1939	Gangster	USA	The first novel of Chase, based on the old gangster school; widely read and acclaimed; equally controversial. Introduces Dave Fenner
He Won't Need It Now	1939	Gangster	USA	Old style gangster plot - bloody and violent
Kiss My Fist / The Dead Stay Dumb	1940	Gangster	USA	The third old-style gangster novel, violent and fatalistic.
Lady - Here's Your Wreath	1940	Thriller	USA	Tale of organised crime.
Twelve Chinks and a Woman (renamed as The Doll's Bad News in 1970)	1941	Gangster	USA	A violent gangster novel. Fenner reappears
Miss Callaghan Comes to Grief	1941	Crime	USA	Graphic description of sexual violence resulted in the book being banned in 1942
Get A Load of This	1941	Thriller	Various	Described as a collection of stories and tough episodes
Just the Way It is	1944	Gangster	USA	Old style gangster novel..Violent and bloody
Blonde's Requiem	1945	Murder	USA	Chilling. An action packed novel, with a surprisingly romantic ending.
Eve	1945	Thriller	USA	A man's self-destructing desire for a prostitute, who spurns him. No bloodshed, but depressing
More Deadly Than the Male	1946	Gangster	London, UK	Autobiographical elements. Convoluted, confusing and depressing.
Make The Corpse Walk	1946	Thriller	London, UK	Unusual tale and unusual characters; recommended however.
Trusted Like The Fox / Ruthless	1946	War time thriller	London, UK	Chase's first attempt at writing war time stories. Highly recommended
I'll Get You For This	1947	Murder / Revenge	USA	Non-stop action. Highly recommended
No Business of Mine	1947	Murder / Robbery	London, UK	Murder mystery. No great shakes
The Flesh of the Orchid	1948	Murder / Revenge	USA	Shattering sequel to No Orchids for Miss Blandish. Better than the prequel in many respects
You Never Know With Women	1949	Murder / Revenge	USA	Violent, fatalistic plot
The Paw in The Bottle	1949	Thriller	London, UK	Standard fatalistic Chase fare
You Are Lonely When You Are Dead	1949	Murder	USA	Introduces Vic Malloy, Universal Services and Orchid City. Shallow plot and weak characters
Miss Shumway Waves a Wand	1949	Dark Comedy	USA and Mexico	Magic, comedy.......a highly unusual Chase presentation; enigmatic
Mallory	1950	Wartime plot	Europe	Introduces Corridon; highly recommended
Lay Her Among The Lilies / Too Dangerous To Be Free	1950	Murder	USA	Vic Malloy again. Better than the prequel
Figure It Out For Yourself / The Marijuana Mob	1950	Murder	Eastern Europe	Vic Malloy impresses. The last Malloy novel
In A Vain Shadow / Never Trust a Woman	1951	Murder	Chesham, UK	Dark and brooding
But A Short Time to Live / The Pickup	1951	Thriller	London, UK	Sensitive and tragic
Why Pick on Me?	1951	Murder	London, UK	The second and last Corridon novel. Recommended
Strictly for Cash	1951	Murder	USA	Unique, shattering plot; Chase gets into his element, which will continue in the years to come... one of the best
The Fast Buck	1952	Robbery	USA	Old style gangster plot
The Wary Transgressor	1952	Murder	Milan, Italy	Riveting plot; highly recommended
The Double Shuffle	1953	Insurance fraud	USA	Introduces Steve Harmas and Maddux
The Things Men Do	1953	Robbery	USA	Standard Chase fare - recommended
I'll Bury My Dead	1953	Murder	USA	Standard Chase fare
The Sucker Punch	1953	Inheritance / Murder	USA	Standard Chase fare - recommended
This Way for a Shroud	1953	Gangster	USA	Chase in his element again; violent, gory and tragic; one of the best
Tiger by the Tail	1954	Murder / organised crime	USA	Unique story, encompassing thirty hours only
Safer Dead / Dead Ringer	1954	Murder / organised crime	USA	Standard Chase fare
Mission to Venice	1954	Espionage	Italy	Introduces Don Micklem - a tame affair
Mission to Siena	1955	Thriller	Italy	Second and last Micklem story - better than the first
You've Got It Coming	1955	High jacking	USA	Standard Chase fare - readable
There's Always a Price Tag	1956	Murder / Insurance fraud	USA	Innovative treatment and and tragic ending - Chase at his best
You Find Him - I'll Fix Him	1956	Murder	Italy	Standard Chase fare
The Guilty are Afraid	1957	Murder / Thriller	USA	Standard Chase fare
Not Safe to Be Free / The Case of The Strangled Starlet	1958	Murder	Cannes, France	Standard Chase fare
The World in My Pocket	1958	Robbery	USA	An innovative plot with a fatalistic end
Hit and Run	1958	Thriller	USA	An innovative plot - readable
Shock Treatment	1959	Murder	USA	A shocker ( pun intended) with a fatalistic end.... recommended
What's Better than Money ?	1960	Thriller	USA	Standard Chase fare
Come Easy, Go Easy	1960	Robbery	USA	Erotic tale - recommended
A Lotus for Miss Quon	1961	Murder	Saigon, Vietnam	A stylish plot with a sentimental, tragic ending
Just Another Sucker	1961	Robbery	USA	Chase at his best
I Would Rather Stay Poor	1962	Robbery	USA	Standard Chase fare
A Coffin from Hong Kong	1962	Murder	USA / Hong Kong	Standard Chase fare
Tell It To the Birds	1963	Insurance fraud	USA	Standard Chase fare
One Bright Summer Morning	1963	Gangster	USA	Chase in his element once again - recommended
The Soft Centre	1964	Murder	USA	Introduces Paradise City, Frank Terrell and co.., perhaps the most endearing of Chase's characters, which were to appear in various novels for the next twenty years
This is For Real	1965	Spy plot	Paris, Dakar	Introduces Mark Girland as the dissolute CIA agent. Also introduces the sinister Radnitz and co....
The Way The Cookie Crumbles	1965	Robbery	USA	Standard Chase fare
You Have Yourself a Deal	1966	Spy plot	Eastern Europe	Girland again. Better than the first in the series
Cade	1966	Thriller	USA	Unusual plot; highly recommended
Have This One On Me	1967	Spy plot	Eastern Europe	Mark Girland impresses again
Well Now My Pretty	1967	Robbery	USA	Fast moving, erotic and action packed; highly recommended
An Ear To The Ground	1968	Robbery	USA	Introduces Al Barney.....Chase in his element; recommended
Believed Violent	1968	Spy / Gangster	USA	One of the most erotic and stunning of Chase's novels; highly recommended
The Whiff of Money	1969	Spy	Eastern Europe	The last Mark Girland novel. One of the best of Chase's works
The Vulture is a Patient Bird	1969	Robbery	USA / Africa	Simply stunning
There's a Hippie on the Highway	1970	Robbery / murder	USA	One of the best
Like a Hole in the Head	1970	Murder / revenge	USA	Unusual plot; recommended
An Ace up my Sleeve	1971	Thriller	Germany/ Switzerland	Introduces Helga Rolfe; non-stop thrills
Want to Stay Alive?	1971	Thriller	USA	One of the best
You're Dead Without Money	1972	Robbery	USA	Unusual tame plot without any bloodshed; recommended
Just A Matter of Time	1972	Inheritance	USA	Another unusual plot, without any bloodshed. Average
Knock Knock ! Who is There ?	1973	Mafia plot	USA	Recommended
Have A Change of Scene	1973	Robbery	USA	Fatalistic and erotic; recommended
So What Happens To Me?	1974	Robbery / High jacking	USA	Non-stop action; recommended
Goldfish Have No Hiding Place	1974	Murder / Blackmail	USA	Standard Chase fare, with plenty of double takes
Three of Spades	1974	-	-	An anthology containing `The Double Shuffle', `Shock Treatment' and `Tell it to the Birds'
Believe This, You'll Believe Anything	1975	Crime	USA	Another fatalistic plot; average
The Joker in the Pack	1975	Thriller	The Bahamas	Helga Rolfe returns; a supernatural plot, without any bloodshed
Do Me a Favor - Drop Dead	1976	Murder/ Inheritance	USA	Dark, brooding and erotic
My Laugh Comes Last	1977	Robbery	USA	Standard Chase fare, with plenty of double takes
I Hold the Four Aces	1977	Thriller	Switzerland	Shenanigans of Archer and Helga Rolfe once again; average fare
Meet Mark Girland	1977	-	-	An anthology containing 3 Mark Girland novels viz. This is For Real, You Have Yourself a Deal and Have This One One Me
Consider Yourself Dead	1978	Thriller	USA	Fast paced plot; the death of Lu Silk, Radnitz's paid assassin
A Can of Worms	1979	Thriller	USA	Introduces Parnell Detective Agency, later to be christened as Acme Detective Agency
You Must Be Kidding	1979	Murder	USA	Standard fare; recommended
Try This One For Size	1980	Robbery	USA / Europe	Rather tame.........
You Can Say That Again	1980	Thriller	USA	Unusual plot; enjoyable
Hand Me a Fig Leaf	1981	Thriller	USA	Somewhat unusual; readable though
Have A Nice Night	1982	Robbery	USA	Without any bloodshed; enjoyable
We'll Share a Double Funeral	1982	Thriller	USA	Highly recommended
Not My Thing	1983	Thriller	USA	Pretty tame stuff
Hit Them Where It Hurts	1984	Murder	USA	The last from the Great Master.... Farewell friend....
Meet Helga Rolfe	1984	-	-	An anthology containing 3 Helga Rolfe novels, viz. An Ace Up My Sleeve, The Joker in The Pack and I Hold the Four Aces

A collection of short stories written by Chase, were first published in 1941, and subsequently reprinted under a compilation titled "Get A Load of This" (1988). None of the stories had the characteristic Chase touch, although all were violent, erotic and could be classified as tragedies. In fact, one could not identify the typical Chase elements in any of the stories, by the language, presentation or even in the themes themselves. However, these stories are part of Chase history and Chase enthusiasts would do well not to ignore these. The short stories are as follows:

An unusual short story by Chase was 'The Mirror in Room 22', in which he tried his hand outside the crime genre. It was set in an old house, occupied by officers of an air force squadron. The owner of the house had committed suicide in his bedroom and the last two occupants of the room had been found with a razor in their hands and their throats cut. The Wing Commander tells that when he started to shave before the mirror, he found another face in it. The apparition drew the razor across his throat. "I use a safety razor," the Wing Commander noted, "Otherwise I might have met with a serious accident - especially if I used an old-fashioned cut-throat".

This story was published under the author's real name in the anthology, Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology, in 1946, co-edited by Chase himself (as Rene' Raymond and David Langdon, Squadron Leaders, RAF) and published by Eyre & Spottiswode, London. Slipstream was an anthology of stories and articles appearing in the Royal Air Force Journal, the official magazine of the RAF. Some of the contributions were written by well-known writers who served in the RAF; others were written by airmen and airwomen, who had never appeared in print before. The bulk of these contributions were made public for the first time in the Slipstream anthology, since the journal was 'restricted' for official use only, during the war. "The Mirror in Room 22", has also been published recently, in an anthology, "The Mammoth Book of 20th Century Ghost Stories", edited by Peter Haining (1998).

Chase also wrote a play, "Last Page", in 1946, which was the subject of a movie in 1952, entitled Man Bait.

I am grateful to Chase fans: Famudehin O. Ayoola Soldier, Ajai Salian, Ravi Thyagarajan and Ian Rhodes, for reviewing this site and providing further material to me, which enabled me to update this list. Chase Fan, Phillipe Soula, has provided many of the dazzling scans of JHC novels in this website, for which I am grateful to him.

	Get A Load of This	Two Thumb a Ride
	Morning Visit	Morning Visit
	Conversation Piece	The General Dies in Bed
	The Magnificent Opportunity	Walk in the Park
	The Place of Love	Vigil
	Night Out	Skin Deep
	Overheard	The Painted Angel

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