"The Venetian Blonde" is a terrific pulpy story first published in 1962 that takes place on the Venice boardwalk in California. In it, Fleischman takes a card mechanic whose hands can't stop shaking and plants him at the edge of the continent on the run from a gambler who thinks he got cheated out of $100,000. He pairs Skelly with a long con scheme involving a medium and a wealthy widow. Throw in a beatnik drifter blonde in a black bathing suit who has nothing better to do than chase seagulls on the beach and a conniving babe with a heart of stone and maybe, just maybe, you've got a pulp classic.
Confidence schemes and grifters are nothing new under the sun, but this one is pure gold. Skelly explains he had come a long way for a guy with nowhere left to go. And that no one would believe the cards had turned to Jello in his hands and had got him an invitation to his own funeral. And when he gets to Venice, he realizes it wasn't the grand carnival of his childhood. He felt he'd been tricked. The amusement pier had been torn down and the fun rides had vanished. Instead all he finds is a walk down desolation row.

And who does he meet there? A girl that says "Chow" and a woman in a yellow dress and high heels as sharp as rapiers who claims she can light up a darkened room. Well, Skelly had known women like Maggie who couldn't get through the day without laying down stories, putting the con on everyone from the milkman to the boyfriend. "All she had been able to buy with that lovely golden body of hers was a square mile of Hell."

This book was a terrific read from start to finish. It is a fairly short read and flows quite well. And, it's got that pulpy attitude just oozing from every page. ( )