A captivating, lustful, original cover painting by Victor Kalin created for use as cover art for the 1959 Dell paperback edition of the Scott Jordan mystery Murder on Broadway by Hal Masur. The work was titled The Last Gamble in its hardback incarnation, but the paperback title captures the lurid allure of the mystery of Vickie Crane, the femme fatale pictured in Kalin’s illustration, who was “the producer’s girl friday,” and maybe more.

This is everything we love about mid-century paperback art, it’s got sleaze and seduction rolled into one graphically bold, and beautifully executed package. The work comes nicely framed and with a published copy of the book.