The Black Mirror

New York: Bantam Books, 1958. First Bantam Edition . Mass Market. Very Good. 122 Pages. Bantam # 1909. Mass Market paperback with red page edges. Covers and spine show light wear and one small hole at the top of front cover. Twenty-five cent cover price. There is a tape repair to the top spine area of the back cover. Interior text pages are tight, bright, and white. No marks or stamps. Pictorial front cover with red and orange lettering and cover art picturing a bartender watching a bunch of hoods and their girls. In Belleview everything was for sale, even the local cops. Then State Trooper Bradford went to work to blow the lid of the whole rotten mess. Three troopers - Captain Paul Manta, Detective - Lieutenant George Carmadan, and Detective - Sergeant Peter Bradford - met for the final briefing. The subject was Belleview, a pleasant, tree-lined Massachusetts town on the surface, underneath, rotten and corrupt from the Casbah Club to the local police. Belleview was a job for the State Troopers. This is the story of Peter Bradford, the young trooper who went into Belleview and got a job with the organization. Bradford didn't like undercover work, but every State Trooper puts his whole guts into any assignment-whether it means washing greasy glasses, sweeping floors, or making up to the boss's daughter. Ben Benson, the bestselling mystery novelist, famous for his work with the Massachusetts State Police, matches his best with another brilliant expose of crime.