Johnny & Suzy Marshall are the protagonists of a series of pulp paperback mystery potboilers, created as the suburban counterpart to Dashiell Hammet’s Thin Man characters Nick and Nora Charles.

In this gouache-on-board cover illustration for 1952’s The Scarlet Slipper, James Meese captures the unique mixture of the American homestead with a tough-talking private eye in the mix. With Suzy Marshall shown coming across the corpse of a beautiful young woman in a nylon and lace nightgown and satin slippers, and Johnny in the background looking on impassively, Meese suggests the fearlessness of the heroine and film noir style of the rugged private eye with classic thriller paperback style.

The work is handsomely framed and ready to hang, with a vintage copy of the Dell paperback included with sale.