Private Detective Stories, February 1948

Museum Catalog Entry This issue of *Private Detective Stories* features the complete novelette "Killer on Sight" by Norman Daniels. The story concerns private investigator Jim Talbot, hired by wealthy businessman Carlyle Atterbury to retrieve his wayward twenty-year-old daughter Marietta from a nightclub. Talbot locates Marietta at Gus Hanna's establishment, an upscale gambling joint with an honest front. She refuses to leave, claiming her intention to marry Hanna despite Talbot's objections. After a confrontation with one of Hanna's armed torpedoes, Talbot pursues Marietta upstairs, where he hears gunshots. He discovers Marietta shot dead in Hanna's office. A young man, later identified as Harry Chapin, flees the scene. Investigating further, Talbot finds a dead uniformed officer in the alley behind the club. The narrative combines elements of hard-boiled detective and crime fiction with detailed period-specific dialogue and settings.