You have to get past the hilariously suggestive / offensive title. “12 Chinks and a Woman” is NOT about what you’re picturing. Still, it’s easy to understand why James Hadley Chase has been erased from print, while still lamenting the amnesia that condemns former masters of the genre to complete obscurity. The culturally-appropriating British hard-boiler reuses Dave Fenner, from “No Orchids for Miss Blandish”. Here, a concerned dame gets Fenner to investigate a vicious human trafficking ring. Cuban gangsters are shipping in Chinese workers in search of the American Dream through Key West… and they do so by the dozen. (Spoiler!) So there you have your 12 fellows from China, and your whistle-blowing woman. While it’s not as lurid as the title or the cover, the hard-boiled snappy dialogue will still shock the modern reader, which alone might be a good reason to revisit Chase’s work.
HANSEL CASTRO'S HALLUCINA 