Milo March #23

For the first time in book form-six stories from vintage men's magazines (1952-1961) featuring Milo March, the shrewd insurance investigator and brazen secret agent created by M.E. Chaber:

• "The Jelly Roll Heist." A series of thefts in Denver has the insurance executives biting their nails. Judging by the loss of a belly dancer's navel gem, it looks like a seducer is preying on ladies with sparkly things. Or is there a more sinister gang behind it?
• "Hair the Color of Blood." Milo's on vacation at a swank Santa Monica hotel when he hears a scream. He rushes to save the damsel in distress, and the next thing he knows, he's waking up in bed with the naked body of a red-haired corpse!
• "The Hot Ice Blues." A new jewel robbery occurs every night, while Milo sits around playing Dixieland platters with a real gone chick. Is the insurance company's star investigator really goofing off?
• "Murder for Madame." Someone swipes a worthless box, tossing aside the costly pearl necklace that was inside. Now four people are desperate to retrieve the boxfive if you count Milo, who can't resist trying to figure out why.
• "The Red, Red Flowers." Major March, U.S. Army Reserve, is sent undercover to Moscow, where a captured American U-2 pilot is on trial. As usual, Milo has no plan but makes it up as he goes along. He will have mere moments to retrieve a coded message and snatch the pilot from the Communists' hands-but things don't go exactly as expected.
• "The Twisted Trap." Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. A wealthy old policyholder claims that his sexy young wife and her psychiatrist lover have teamed up to poison him with a drug that mimics the symptoms of madness. If he should die "accidentally" as a result of this condition, his wife will get an enormous life insurance payout. Having escaped from a sanatorium, the old man insists that Milo must rescue him. But doing so may cost Milo his own sanity!