Mike Lanson for Murder: Bye-Bye, Baby! / Murder Isn’t Funny / Kill Me with Kindness / If Wishes were Hearses

Mike Lanson is the young crime reporter for the Gazette, and he’ll do just about anything for a story. Mike headlines these four mysteries as his investigations inevitably lead to a body … sometimes a murder victim, sometimes an attractive young woman.

Bye-Bye, Baby!: The death of an editor a decade earlier resurfaces when a bullet is sent to the police. Mike Lanson is assigned to follow-up, but has barely started when his own editor is murdered …

Murder isn’t Funny: Mike is tasked with following up an unusual classified ad that notes missing newspaper comic strip art. A murder soon pushes Mike into the strange, neurotic world of comic-strip writers and artists.

Kill Me with Kindness: Mike is sent to investigate the director of an Anti-Vice League, but when the man is slain, the League turns out to be a front. Mike tries to help a young woman in trouble, but with murderous gangsters on the chase, she and her luggage may be more trouble than they’re worth!

If Wishes were Hearses: Dropping in on the police station, Mike gets a tip that an unreliable wino has reported overhearing a murder plot. When one of the plotters ends up dead, Mike finds himself embroiled in a murder case where he just might end up a victim.

These four mysteries were published in 2-for-1 paperbacks from 1958-1961. Russell Robert Winterbotham (1904-1971) was born in Salina, Kansas, but spent most of his career in northwestern Ohio. Along with editing for the NEA news service, he wrote genre fiction (science fiction, westerns, and crime fiction) and storylines for comic strips.