John K. Butler

The Complete Cases of Steve Midnight, Volume 2 John K. Butler

Down and out former playboy Steven Middleton Knight's fortune was destroyed by the Depression. Now a cabbie for the Red Owl Cab Company, he never fails to take on another mystery with each new fare. Created by John K. Butler, this fast-paced, Los Angeles-based hard-boiled series was published between 1940 and 1942 in the pages of Dime Detective, the prestigious crime pulp second only to the legendary Black Mask in its impact on the genre. Volume 2 collects the final five stories: "The Killer was a Gentleman," "Dead Man's Alibi," "The Hearse from Red Owl," "Death and Taxis," and "The Corpse That Couldn't Keep Cool."