No Orchids for Miss Blandish

American heiress Miss Blandish is kidnapped and held by an organized gang led by the sadist Slim Grisson. Private detective Dave Fenner is hired to rescue her, and does so, but not without resort to bribery, torture, and murder. Written in 1939, the book inspired a 1944 essay by George Orwell, "Raffles and Miss Blandish," drawing conclusions from its popularity about a mood in the post-War British public of combined boredom and desensitization to horrific violence. Unabridged.