GOING, GOING, GONE, A Mystery Novel by Eliza G. C. Collins

EVERYONE seems to be a critic, so I'm sure there are those who may think that Going, Going, Gone is no great shake, but I'm not one of them. I personally enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed reading anything, even the most lauded mysteries that are out there, and that's the reason I now own both editions of the novel. The only downside I can think of is that this was Eliza G. C. Collins' (b. 1938- ) only foray into fiction; after this, and what should have been the beginning of a thoroughly successful mystery-series writing career, she concentrated instead only on authoring a non-fiction book, The Portable MBA, her third such endeavor, which may have been the dissuading factor that kept her from writing more fiction. Well that, and perhaps her important day job as senior editor of the Harvard Business Review, an obvious time-consuming occupation.

Going, Going, Gone was published in hardback by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1986. The jacket art was painted by Jack Ribik, who was an active producer of illustrative and graphic designed cover art during the 1970s, 80s and 90s for publishers such as Bobbs-Merrill, Dial, Dodd Mead, Dutton, Houghton Mifflin, William Morrow, Putnam, Random House, Scribner's, St. Martin's and Viking. Beyond that fact there is no other background information about Ribik online.

Ribik's illustration depicts a wooden African Chieftain's sceptre, its top carved into several hideous grinning baboon faces, with tiny bits of ivory for their teeth. And yes, this is the murder weapon.

"Helen Greene once had to sell her favorite painting-- a gorgeous landscape by Albert Pinkham Ryder-- to save her Boston gallery. Now, ten years later, the Ryder's back on the auction block, and Helen wants it-- desperately. It's the love of fine art that brings Helen to Joseph Wickham Auctions. The motives of the other auction hounds aren't so pure. Tom's scrambling to pay off a bad debt with penny-ante purchases. Julie's stalking a new partner for business and/or bed. Silky's gambling on an unsigned-- and unauthorized-Master. Will he make a killing, or get stuck with a worthless imitation? Al's trying to shake down an old business partner for his share of the till. And Barton's just being his usual high-and-mighty self. The stakes are as high as tempers, and once the bidding begins, the sky's the limit. But it's murder that fetches the highest price. And Helen is the chief suspect."

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...readers with a taste for Boston or auctions, or both, should be modestly entertained by this sedate mystery-comedy, which is intended to inaugurate a Helen Greene series."

The paperback edition of Going, Going Gone was published by Signet in September, 1987. The cover art was produced by Robert Crawford, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His paintings have appeared on scores of paperback and hardcover book covers since the early 1980s; in some instances, such as Philip R. Craig's popular Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series, he's provided every cover painting for every format that's been published. He also produced a substantial amount of imagery for advertising purposes and for magazines such as Fortune, Business Week, The Atlantic and the U.S. News and World Report.

Crawford's take on the wooden African sceptre is stylishly different than Ribik's. He also shows us the very large carved wooden box, of seventeenth-century English origin, which Helen successfully bids on during the auction and which becomes an impromptu stash place for the murdered victim's body.

"The thrill of an antiques auction was in the blood of Boston gallery owner Helen Greene. And this time the chance to buy back a painting she was forced to sell long ago had her on a razor's edge of anticipation. A gorgeous landscape by Albert Ryder was going on the block that afternoon, and Helen would do anything to outbid the cutthroat competition to possess it. But murder? She wouldn't, of course, but somebody did... for a grisly corpse among the objets d'art soon made Helen the prime suspect in a rival dealer's death. Now the price of her freedom depended on her talent for investigation... and her expert appraisal of the crafty criminal who made a real killing in antiques... "

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

BELOW ARE some bonus covers to enjoy by the elusive artist Jack Ribik. (I'll feature Crawford at another time; he is a favorite illustrator of mine and deserves his own article):

The Whisper of the Axe, a thriller by Richard Condon, was published in hardback by Doubleday in 1976. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'The weapons are stored, ready for the Final American Revolution. Strike date: July 4, 1976. Name: Urban Guerrilla Warfare. Method: Terror in the streets, rooftops, cellars of Thirty American Cities. Leader: Lawyer Agatha Teel, beautiful, smart, black. Funding: Heroin, from plant to vein. CIA team: Enid and Bart Simms, the most erotically incestuous brother and sister agents in history. Training: Deep in China's mountains twelve American men and women study death in a four-year course. Secret Agent for the Pentagon: Someone. Someone who must withstand briefings and de-briefings to spare America from the coming violence, and make her safe for her generals and owners.'

 

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...enormously entertaining... though it's clear that the central performer is always Condon, a staggering virtuoso. When he describes a meal it makes Craig Claiborne's American Express orgy seem like a Pillsbury Bake-Off."

Super-Folks, a novel by Robert Mayer, was published in hardback by Dial Press in 1977. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'The funniest novel... maybe ever. There were no more heroes. Kennedy was dead. Batman and Robin were dead. The Lone Ranger was dead. Superman was missing. Even Snoopy had bought it: missing in action over France. In this fading pantheon of heroes, the very last to give up combat against the forces of evil had been the most powerful hero of all, unseen in almost a decade since, unknown to the world, his Superpowers had begun to fail. Slipping into the humdrum routine of middle-class life, using the humdrum secret name David Brinkley, he was now forty-two years old, married, with two children and a third on the way. He expected never again to dash into a phone booth, strip down to his uniform, don his purple mask, and leap into battle against the forces of darkness. Then comes a TV news bulletin; an ominous phone call; and Brinkley, against his wishes, dragging along the flab of middle age, is drawn into one last heroic battle to save the world. In his comic adventures, searching to understand what is happening, find the enemy, and deal with his own yearnings, he encounters a collage of characters from real and imaginary worlds, including nefarious villains of every sort and the girl reporter who was the lost romance of his youth. Brinkley is Everyman, mourning lost goals and lost powers, dealing with his own multiple identity, facing the encroachments of middle age--like the rest of us.'

 

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...sharp, funny, and ultimately moving, with a plot that could be the R-rated version of the current hit movie The Incredibles... a cult novel that inspired a generation of comic book writers and anticipated books like The Fortress of Solitude and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods, a science fiction novel by Jack Williamson, was published in hardback by Bobbs-Merrill in 1979 .The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

"We can recreate the human race-- if we dare. In this exciting age of test-tube babies and reported human clones and the new miracles of recombinant DNA, that's the dazzling and sometimes disturbing promise of the genetic engineers. In Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods, a prophetic novel set in a vast future multiverse, Jack Williamson projects future centuries of genetic research..."

Star Light, Star Bright, a crime thriller by Stanley Ellin, was published by in hardback by Random House in 1979. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Kalos Daskalos, once astrologer to the famous and now mystic guru to billionaire Andrew Quist and his wife, has received three threatening letters. Det. Milano has been hired to prevent Daskalos' possible murder. As the appointed hour draws near Milano can see a shocking conclusion building up but has little power to stop it.'

Listen, Listen, a collection of novellas by Kate Wilhelm, was published in hardback by Houghton Mifflin in 1981. The jacket design was created by Jack Ribik (this is virtually a precursor to today's dominating font only designed graphic covers).

'This book contains four striking novellas, and the author's own philosophy of fiction writing expressed in her speech as guest of honor at the 38th World Science Fiction Convention... Kate Wilhelm's writing always has meaning on many levels. Listen, Listen provides a feast for fans and new readers alike.'

Mad Hatter Summer, a crime novel by Donald Thomas, was published in hardback by Viking in 1983. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'It is November 1879, and in his rooms at Christ Church, Oxford, the Reverend C.L. Dodgson, known to posterity as Lewis Carroll, is sketching the likeness of young Jane Ashmole, while Inspector Alfred Swain of Scotland yard and his fiancee look on. These four people share the memory of a remarkable summer, beautiful and deadly: Mr. Dodgson and the little girls. Innocence and extortion. The body of the murdered man in sodden plum-colored suiting. Corruption in high and low places alike. Swain, challenged by Dodgson for a "title" for the haunted season just past, pauses, then dubs it "Mad Hatter Summer." To discover why his reply is dead on target is to be plunged into an enthralling and fascinating century-old episode of menace. It was a time that threatened disgrace and scandal for the creator of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. Avuncular friend of many young girls, and one of England's finest early photographers, he had for some years been posing young models with whom he was on innocent "kissing terms," in "their favorite dress of nothing at all." Inevitably, rumors rippled through the colleges of Oxford, and the middle-aged bachelor don seemed an easy target for Charles Augustus Howell, Victorian blackmailer par excellence. Others, enemies and friends--the ill-fated schemer Major Tiptoe, the cold and wolfish colleague Thomas Godwin, Sarah Ashmole, the mother of Jane--seemed to form an inexorably closing circle around Dodgson. A beautiful evoked high summer in Oxford with its chimes, buttercups, and river scenes is the background for a darker drama of Victorian innocence, sexuality, and conspiracy. Inspector Swain, bringing to bear the lunatic and inspired logic of one of Lewis Carroll's most famous characters, solves a murder and saves a vulnerable genius in one of those rare fictions that is at once both ingenious mystery and novel of depth and delight.'

Scandal, Or Priscilla's Kindness, a novel by A. N. Wilson was published in hardback by Viking Press in 1984. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'... A. N. Wilson here weaves a complex and hilarious tale of a sex scandal that reaches to the very heights of the British government. At its center is a lovable but dim-witted prostitute with the improbable name of Bernadette, one of whose clients--whom she entertains with the aid of a schoolboy's uniform and a teacher's ruler--is a red-faced man of unusual sexual tastes who happens (unbeknownst to Bernadette) to be Derek Blore, a cabinet member hot for the summit. When her pimp arranges for her to marry a defecting Russian dancer, Bernadette doesn't realize this chaste union could have anything to do with Blore; nor does Blore know that his business with the obliging Bernadette has come to anyone's attention--or that his otherwise irreproachable wife, Priscilla, is have a steamy but sane affair with a journalist with an insatiable appetite for a good story. And none of the four can see that their wold of political salons, country house weekends, shabby-genteel brothels, and Fleet Street gossip is about to be engulfed in a comic cataclysm that will change all their lives...'

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...coldly whimsical little treatment of a sex-scandal involving a British cabinet-minister [which combines] elements from several recent Whitehall brouhahas... with every character a fool or a faker."

The Godwin Sideboard, a crime novel by John Malcolm, was published in hardback by Scribners in 1985. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Centuries old furniture and other objets are fetching astronomical prices these days. When Tim Simpson asks his friend Peter Blackwell, a London antiques dealer, to find a Godwin sideboard--1860-70, Japanese-looking, rare and growing in value--for the Art Investment Fund that Simpson adminsters, Blackwell tells him that it will cost him at least $25,000. Instead, it costs Blackwell's life. The antiques dealer is found shot to death in his office--just minutes after he telephones Simpson and asks to see him immediately, presumably about a Godwin sideboard. The only clue leads Simpson, a less-than-eager amateur sleuth, to seedy Hastings. There, a chance encounter with a pair of Americans brings the beautiful Marianne Gray into his life and offers him some much-needed )and pleasantly distracting) company as he follows the trail of a murderer....'

Thunder of Erebus, a techno thriller by Payne Harrison, was published in hardback by Scribners in 1986 (this is an image of the uncorrected proof softcover edition). The cover art was produced by Jack Ribik. 

'Antarctica--blazingly cold, remote, and largely untouched--has been called "the last place on earth." In the near future, a Soviet-American geological expedition is drilling deep below the Ross Ice Shelf in the shadow of volcanic Mount Erebus, a venture representing a warming relationship between the United Stages and the new "Soviet Confederation." But when an astounding discover is made by the expedition, it quickly leads to a confrontation between the two reluctant superpowers, a desperate struggle to claim the prize under the ice'

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Soviet and American forces slug it out over strategic materials in the frozen South, where a dormant volcano is waking up in a terrible mood. Living, breathing humans and fresh scenery make this a better-than-average technobattle."

Bodies, a crime novel by Robert Barnard, was published in hardback by Scribners in 1986. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Police superintendent Perry Trethowan investigates a spectacular murder in London's Soho district. Perry knows Soho--its restaurants, theaters, and strip joints--from his vice squad days, and it's as colorful and exotic and full of life as ever. Full of life, except of course for the four murdered people. Who would want to kill nice-guy Bob Cordle? Who would want to kill Bob's young assistant, and two beautiful models? Bob is, or was, a photographer for Bodies magazine, a soft-porn periodical, so soft that it's almost marshmallow. Bob's photos were mostly of beautiful, healthy-looking bodies, often photographed outdoors, in natural settings. No obscenity, not for Bob and not for Bodies. Was Bob involved in something after hours? That's the question Perry must ask when he's called in to probe the bloody massacre. Who was the principal victim? Did the others die because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time? With help from a young body-builder named Charlie, Perry traces the backgrounds of his multiple corpses, seeking the key to the most baffling case of his career.'
 

 

The Cherry Blossom Corpse, a crime novel by Robert Barnard, was published in hardback by Scribners in 1987. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Scotland Yard's Perry Trethowan never wanted to make the trip to Norway for the World Association of Romantic Novelists convention. But it was hard saying no to his newly published sister, Christobel. And besides, the worst he expected was the chilly Scandinavian weather weather and a harmless if irritating menu of fanciful writers and flowery language. Who could've known that backbiting, malice, and bitter rivalry were the true customs of this convention and that the plot line would soon include murder? Amanda Fairchild, the genre's amorous doyenne, ends up dead while en route to a fjord-side tryst of her own, and the dauntless Trethowan must discover which of these authors has turned the page from romance to homicide.'

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "The many fans of Scotland Yard's Perry Trethowan will savor his adventures in this 15th elegantly satiric mystery by Barnard. In the denouement, a shockingly inhuman plot is disclosed. Barnard's wit is as sharp as ever; depictions of Norwegian scenic splendors and food are extra attractions.

The Skeleton in the Grass, a crime novel by Robert Barnard, was published in hardback by Scribners in 1988. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'The world at large may be sliding into the abyss of disaster, but life at Hallam, a small English village in 1936, and the county seat of the glamorous and renowned Hallam family, still represents the ultimate in British civilization. Teatime, with its cucumber sandwiches and cream cakes, continues as it has for a hundred years. It's not that the Hallam family ignores the world outside its gracious doors. On the contrary, Helen and Dennis Hallam care passionately about peace and principle, and Dennis dramatically conveys these views to the nation in his controversial weekly review column. Avowed pacifists, Helen and Dennis represent a political stance that the villagers mistrust and fear. That fear and suspicion turn to nasty pranks when a sinister Fascist major gains control over some of the local youths. Helen and Dennis, and their sons Oliver and Will, become the victims of cruel taunts and the kind of teasing that leads to terror. As the Hallams and villagers grow more hostile, we see the story through the eyes of Sarah Causeley, an idealistic young woman who has recently come to be nursery governess at Hallam. To Sarah, the Hallams represent beauty, brilliance, and style--an idyllic life in the midst of chaos. But as she watches, the Hallams' world begins to disintegrate, and a tense and unexpected encounter leads to a shocking murder.'

Dead Run, a crime thriller by Tony Gibbs, was published in hardback by Random House in 1988. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'It all begins with a young woman--Gillian--who inherits a handsome boat called Glory from her uncle, a aging soldier of fortune. Like Gillian, the boat is more beautiful than practical. It starts to seem a little less beautiful when Gillian climbs aboard one night to tend her ailing uncle and finds that someone else has tended to him first--and let him dead. Soon Gillian is pursued by two rival gangs who are out to take Glory from her by fair means or foul--preferably bloody. Something valuable is hidden somewhere on board: they want it--and it is not Gillian. Only two people can help her: a man who happens to be one of the best sailors around, and a woman port star who happens to be stunning, statuesque, smart and ready to retire.'

Wildtrack, a thriller by Bernard Cornwell, was published in hardback by Putnam in 1988. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'"You're never going to walk again," they told him. "You're never going to sail again. You can kiss it all goodbye..." But month by grueling month Nicholas Sandman, wounded in the Falklands War, does teach himself to walk again, and heads home. Everything he has is gone--his money, his wife, his children--all but his one great love: a 38-foot ketch called Sycorax. But to his horror the looted, vandalized shell of Sycorax lies rotting near Nick's former home, now owned by television star Tony Bannister. Bannister is shocked--he had no idea!--and immediately offers to help Nick restore the boat in exchange for a favor. Will Nick navigate Bannister's own yacht, Wildtrack, in a critical race? With trepidation, Nick accepts--and is plunged into a maelstrom of deceit, corruption and danger. For beneath Bannister's smooth words lies a web of disturbing questions, hints of dark financial manipulations, or murder--what happened that black night his wife was killed at sea?--of a ruthless hidden agenda that threatens to engulf Nick himself. As he desperately tries to unravel the tangled secrets that surround Wildtrack and its owner, Nick finds his own life on the line, human treachery battling the raging elements, as high winds sweep him toward a stormy mid-Atlantic "killing ground" where it will take more than a sailor's skills to survive.'

Secret Kills, a crime thriller by William Beechcroft, was published in hardback by Dodd, Mead in 1988. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Crime reporter Dan Forrest is after a story for his scandal sheet. He and columnist Corkie Brion find a link between two incidents Dan is covering when they are plunged into an international plot that is to cost more lives and possibly their own.'

Miss Mary's Husbands, a crime novel by Dale Carlson, was published in hardback by Dodd, Mead in 1988. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Mary Lambert, a successful businesswoman and bestselling author, seems to have little luck with the men she marries. Robert Taylor, husband number one, burned to death in an auto accident. Her second mate, Larry O'Mara, was murdered in a motel room, and her third spouse, Dick Devalos, expired, poisoned, on Mary's sofa. This pleasantly baffling, almost farcical mystery poses even more thorny problems when Mary is romanced and beguiled by a slick con man, John Maurier, who wishes to become husband number four for his own devious purposes. The small New England harbor town of Gelsey is soon scandalized when two of Mary's husbands, Larry and Robert, turn out to be very much alive and interested in making life hazardous for Mary, who begins to be plagued by anonymous phone calls and menacing prowlers. The opportunistic Maurier moves in with Mary and persuades her that she needs his protection, particularly when Larry and Robert turn up really dead this time, and the Gelsey police make Mary their prime suspect.'

Wildcat, a thriller  by Craig Thomas, was published in hardback by Putnam in 1989. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Somewhere in Europe: When an East German defector is accidentally killed after fleeing to the West, British intelligence expects a flap. But indomitable spycatcher Sir Kenneth Aubrey knows it will be the fuse that ignites a chain of violence, snaking halfway around the globe. For the defector is the beloved son of the head of East German intelligence, Aubrey's archenemy, Brigitte Winterbach--a woman with the brilliance and venomous passion to go to any lengths to avenger her devastating loss. Somewhere in Kathmandu: When Aubrey's foster son, the dashing young ex-Gurkha officer Tim Gardiner, finds himself hunted down by an East German "wet" squad, he has no idea that his life is intended to be a forfeit for Kurt Winterbach's. What he does know is that Russian warplanes are poised to invade Nepal and that he must reach Kenneth Aubrey in order to stop the takeover. As the terminally ill Nepalese king moves rapidly toward his imminent end and rioting breaks out in Kathmandu, Tim will be the bait luring Aubrey into a fateful meeting with Brigitte Winterbach, in which the future of Asia--and of Aubrey and Tim--hangs perilously, explosively in the balance.'

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Another sturdy, reliable thriller for Thomas' devoted fans. The aged Aubrey is surprisingly believable as an energetic and successful spy--and there's some pleasantly ominous South Asian scenery as well."

The Bio-Assassins, a thriller by Gerald L. Posner, was published in hardback by McGraw Hill in 1989. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'A CIA research station in London is attacked, its staff murdered. But the hit is more than just another skirmish in an ongoing shadow war. The facility was conducting research into biological warfare--research forbidden by international treaty--and had gotten far enough to produce a deadly virus with no antidote. Now that virus is in the hands of the KGB, iconoclastic agent Richard McGinnis is in pursuit to prevent the unimaginable from happening, its catastrophic use as a lethal weapon against the United States.'

A World The Color Of Salt, a crime novel by Noreen Ayres, was published in hardback by William Morrow in 1992. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Why would anyone want to kill Jerry Dwyer, the goofy, pleasant college kid who sold the precinct cops their morning coffee? And what killer could be so coldblooded that he'd go back to the car for a bigger gun to finish the kid off? Smokey Brandon, ex-stripper, current forensic specialist with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, has taken on the case, determined to bring a callous killer to justice. From the salty waterfront of San Pedro to the glitzy bars of L.A., Smokey pieces together the clues surrounding Jerry's death. But when the trail leads to the rough ex-con who is dating Smokey's best friend, the case takes an alarming turn. Suddenly Smokey is fighting not only to capture Jerry's killer but to save her friend from a seductive, dangerously amoral criminal.'

Shadow Counter, a thriller by Tom Kakonis, was published in hardback by E. P. Dutton in 1993. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Timothy Waverly, an ex-con and ambitious gambler, is in Las Vegas now, counting cards at the blackjack tables, trying to scratch together some money without getting caught. Things aren't going too bad until his naive sister drifts into town and hooks up with a murderous sociopath nicknamed Eggs who wants to muscle in on a basketball point-shaving scheme. Soon people are dying and the only way Waverly can save himself, and his sister, from joining them is to play a game of blackjack-to-the-death.'

On Dangerous Ground, a thriller by Jack Higgins, was published in hardback by Putnam in 1994. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'1944. Mao Tse-tung signs a secret document that could delay the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong for an additional one hundred years. But all copies of the document disappear in a plane crash.
1993. As Hong Kong prepares to be restored to China in 1997, England's prime minister learns of the existence of Mao Tse-tungs lost document. Former terrorist Sean Dillon is given direct orders to keep the document from coming to light--at all costs. One copy still exists, hidden in the wreckage of a plane on the bottom of a Scottish loch. But Dillon's not the only person searching for it. There are powerful business interests, including the Mafia, that will do anything to retain their power over Hong Kong--even if the delicate balance of world power is destroyed...'

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "... one of Higgins' kitchen sink finales, with the principals scuba diving, stealing, kidnapping, parachuting, and assaulting their way into your hearts still again. Nowhere near the top of Higgins' form, but his hordes of devoted fans won't mind this dog-and-pony show one more time."

The Obstacle Course, a novel by J. F. Freedman, was published in hardback by Viking in 1994. The jacket art was produced by Jack Ribik.

'Fifteen-year-old Roy Poole has to be smart because he is almost always on his own. His father is a drinker, womanizer, and wife-beater. His mother can't cope with her husband or her children; Roy copes by running with his own gang, whose escapades sometimes border on the criminal. And this young man is eminently available when the girls come after him, which is often. But there is another side to Roy. He builds model ships and regularly hitchhikes to Annapolis to run the Naval Academy's grueling obstacle course. For Roy Poole's one ambition in life, his consuming dream, is to become a midshipman. One day, like a gift from heaven, Roy meets a retired admiral who also builds model ships. The admiral is immediately attracted to the youngster, and he becomes almost a second father to the boy. Admiral Wells arranges for Roy to be admitted to a military prep school that sends most of its graduates to the Naval Academy. And then, suddenly, Roy's innocence brings about an explosion in this exotic world he has entered. Embittered and lost, Roy strikes out blindly for parts unknown. And on that adventure, particulaly in an encounter with members of a black church, people that he, a Southerner in the 1950s, has never known except as stereotypes, he begins the process of understanding that offers him a chance for his own life redemption.'

 [© October, 2020, Jeffersen]