Legs - a Perry Compton mystery

Perry Compton agrees to do a friend a favour and look after his beach-front house. Good timing, as it’s being rented out by Si Deed, a photographer who likes to dabble in the sleazy side of life.

Astra Garland is now a model, though she was once one of the sweethearts of American cinema. Drink and drugs have worn away that gloss, but her legs are still worth a fortune and she’s having them photographed by Si Deed.

The first attack on her is foiled by Compton but, a day later, her car is run off the road. It obvious that someone wants to get Astra “Legs” Garland out of the way - it’s up to Perry Compton to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Legs - a Perry Compton mystery

Pan Books, August 1980

Slice -a Perry Compton mystery

In an effort to either widen his reach and stretch his talent (my thoughts) or "pick up more of an audience, I had hungry mouths to feed" (Mr Raft, in an interview), Raft wrote a series of novels featuring private eye Perry Compton. Published through Pan Books in the 70s, going into the early 80s, all of them were set in Miami (where Raft lived at the time).

Perry Compton is down on his luck. Busted out of the police force, he sets up in private practise just as local socialite Hannah Harare is spotted driving erratically. Following her tyre-tracks, the police discover a hit and run victim, covered in knife slashes.

Did Hannah do it? Was the victim trying to blackmail her, since Hannah’s private life was anything but. Or is there something else going on, someone from Hannah’s past, who feels cheated out of the life he should have had and who will stop at nothing to get what he feels is rightly his?

Slice - a Perry Compton mystery

Pan Books, October 1979

Vampiress Returns, by Peter Raft

Kathleen Bennett is back, tracking down the hottest news for Miami’s fabulous Channel 5. Her experiences with Demelza, the Vampiress who killed her boyfriend Steve, have left scars that no amount of cheap sex and strong Bourbon can cure.

Then bodies start to appear across the city, drained of blood. Letters arrive at the station, addressed to Kathleen, supposedly from Steve.

Could it possibly be that Demelza, the last surviving member of the family Vlad Dracul, is back? It’s up to Kathleen to discover in a grisly race against time.

Vampiress Returns

Published by Dell Books (4381), July 1984

The Possession, by Peter Raft

Angie Dewar is an IT Girl, living life to the full with parties, pills and plenty of men. She and some of her friends decide to spend a week in the country, at the old Dewar Mansion in the middle of Dartmoor. Quickly, they’re skinny-dipping, taking drugs and enjoying each others bodies.

But something else is in the Dewar Mansion, an entity that has waited a long time to taste the spoils of youth, of firm and supple skin and moist lips. And when Angie pricks her finger one night, the dripping blood finds the entity. And the entity finds Angie.

The Possession - A Novel Of Sexual Terror!

Published by Signet Books (451-AE1205), July 1974

Vampiress, by Peter Raft

Kathleen Bennett is the hottest news reporter on Miami’s fabulous Channel 5, sexy and assured and great at bagging a scoop. On a rare night off, she attends the local nightclub with her boyfriend Steve, who disappears almost as soon as they arrive. After a fruitless search, Kathleen finally spots him being led away by a glamourous looking young woman.

What Kathleen doesn’t realise, as she tracks down her boyfriend, is that she’s on the verge of the biggest scoop of her career. Because Steve has been spirited away by Demelza, the last surviving member of the family Vlad Dracul.

Demelza is The Vampiress and she will stop at nothing to enslave Miami.

Vampiress

Published by Dell Books (6345), August 1983

Witch Hole - Cellar Bitch, by Peter Raft

Carla St Thomas is excited to be on her first modelling trip overseas, exploring the castles and scenery in Yugoslavia. Separated from her friends and colleagues, she falls into the hands of white slave traders, who take her to the Castle Ost, known locally as “Witch Hole”. There, deep in the dungeons, lie the remains of Elizabeth, Witch Queen, who needs the blood of a young virgin to regain life.

Can Carla survive her vicious captors, the lascivious attentions of her fellow slaves and, ultimately, the attention of Elizabeth, who will stop at nothing to kill again.

Witch Hole - Cellar Bitch

Published by Mayflower Books (583-12430 5), September 1977
Reprinted 14 times

Fetish, by Peter Raft

A deadly game, but the killer knew her

Siobhan Rees is a fashion photographer, who likes to push the envelope in terms of nudity and rawness. Her work is admired and reviled, but the fashion magazines keep picking up her work.

The Killer is aroused by Siobhan’s work and wants to take his own photographs, with Siobhan as his model. Slowly, methodically, he works his way into her life even as he builds the ultimate fetish den in his seedy little house.

Soon, Siobhan won’t turn up for work. Instead, she’ll be fighting for her life in The Killer’s sleazy den, trying to survive his…

Fetish

Published by Signet Books (452-AE1225), August 1973
Reprinted 12 times