Created by Stewart Sterling
Pseudonym of Prentice Winchell
Other pseudonyms include Spencer Dean, Jay de Bekker, Giles Norcroft, Robert Wallace
(1895-1976)
DON MARKO was an apparent predecessor of the author’s series character Don Cadee, whom he wrote about under the pen name of Spencer Dean. Marko appeared in five short stories near the end of the pulp era with the last story, “The Kiss and Kill Murders,” appearing in the May 1953 issue of Popular Detective.
The first Don Cadee novel, The Smell of Fear, appeared just a year later, in 1954.
Like Cadee, Marko worked as Chief of Store Protection at a swank Fifth Avenue department store, but in Marko’s case, the store was called Nimblett’s, not Amblett’s.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spencer Dean (whose real name was Prentice Winchell) wrote under a slew of pseudonyms, but whatever name he used, he really was the “King of the Specialty Detectives.” Although they sure acted like private eyes, their official occupations ranged from upscale house dick Gil Vine and department store Don Cadee to Fire Marshall Ben Pedley and Harbour Detective Lieutenant Steve Koski. Before turning to novels, he was responsible for numerous stories in the pulps, featuring such diverse characters as Native-American private eye Jim Big-Knife, undercover cop Johnny Hi Gear, Don Marko (an early version of Don Cadee), Royal Canadian Mountie Eric Lewis, racetrack sleuth Vince Mallie, and NYPD hard-asses The Special Squad. He also worked as a journalist, a screenwriter and a writer of radio scripts.
UNDER OATH
- “… an excellent detective story from the end of the pulp era. A little spicier than most of the stories found in earlier years. Not really a hardboiled story, but this guy has nearly as many dames throwing themselves at him as Mike Hammer.”
— PulpGen on “The Kiss and Kill Murders”
SHORT STORIES
- “The Frightened Faces” (October 1950, Thrilling Detective)
- “The Butcher Always Smiles” (February 1951, Thrilling Detective)
- “A Key for Any Lock” (Winter 1952, Triple Detective)
- “Weapon Invisible” (Winter 1953, Triple Detective)
- “The Kiss and Kill Murders” (May 1953, Popular Detective)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Stewart Sterling: King Of The Specialty Detectives
Richard Moore clues us in. Curiously, he doesn’t mention Don Cadee. (December 2003, Mystery*File 40) - An Eye by Any Other Name Would Still Smell As Sweet
Official & Not-So-Official Occupations of Some Popular Eyes
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
