One of Ace Publishing’s long-running pulp heroes was detective Wade Hammond, who ran for 39 stories in Ten Detective Aces (and the prior Detective-Dragnet) from 1931 to 1936.
All were written by Paul Chadwick, who also created and wrote the early Secret Agent X stories and Capt. Hazzard, also for Ace.
I pretty much avoided this character, as I thought he was just another standard detective character; something I’m not really interested in. However, Hammond is not a standard detective.
We learn that Hammond is an amateur detective, who does work with the police. So he doesn’t take ordinary cases, just those that interest him. He has been an adventurer and world traveler in the past. He was also a newspaper correspondent, I assume writing about his travels, but doesn’t seem to be a standard newspaper reporter. He is described as a large, sun-tanned man with a pencil-thin mustache.
The stories are also not your standard detective fare. Yes, there is often murder involved, but the culprit is usually not your expected characters. In the first collection we get a robot used for murder; a mysterious character called the Gray Mask who is targeting people for death; a giant tarantula that is staking people; a character named Doctor Zero who is extorting money; people turning into walking skeletons; and more. Most stories are set in New York City, but a few are set in other locations.
There are almost no secondary characters in the series, as the stories are short. An Inspector Thompson is a frequent character, but isn’t in each story. There is no love interest or servants or the like.
The whole series has been reprinted in four volumes by Off-Trail Publications. Each volume has about 10 stories, but they are not reprinted in sequence. The fourth volume has only nine stories, and makes up for it with an reprint of an article by Chadwick on writing pulps. The first and fourth volume have introductory articles by John Locke, publisher of Off-Trail.
If you are looking for more than the standard pulp detective, check out Wade Hammond. All his stories are a fun read.
