FFB: Virgin Cay -- Basil Heatter

I read all Basil Heatter's Gold Medal novels, including Virgin Cay when they were first published, and I've often wondered why there was so little discussion of them.  Heatter was a very good writer, his plots were twisty, and his work was always entertaining.  He wasn't in the top rank of Gold Medal writers, but he was close.  Now that Stark House has reprinted some of his work (this book is due in July), maybe there'll be a Heatter revival.

Like some other Gold Medal writers (Charles Williams, Donald Hamilton, John D. MacDonald), Heatter was really good at the nautical stuff, and there's plenty of it in Virgin Cay, which opens when Gus Robinson's boat goes down in a storm.  He manages to swim to shore, which is quite a task, guided by the light from the house where Clare Loomis is staying.  Gus is a hardy soul, though, and he recovers quickly enough to enjoy Clare's sexual favors.  And it turns out that she has a proposition for him, something that would pay him $20,000, enough to buy a new boat.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he'd have to murder somebody to earn the money.

It wouldn't be fair to detail any more of the plot.  You should enjoy all the twists for yourself.  I did, and rereading this made me think that it was time for me to reread another Heatter novel Real Soon Now.  Or maybe I should just read A Night Out, which wasn't published by Gold Medal.

I always praise the Stark House introductions, but unfortunately the one by Steve Lewis for this volume wasn't available in the ARC that I read.  I can guarantee that it'll be good, though.  Everything tht Steve writes is good.