Can Ladies Kill?
book by Peter Cheyney
Can Ladies Kill? is a crime novel by British author Peter Cheyney first published in 1938 by William Collins, Sons & Co. Ltd. Set in San Francisco and featuring Cheyney's creation, G-Man Lemmy Caution, it belongs to the hardboiled school of crime writing.
The novel is the fourth title of Cheyney's series of novels that featured the FBI agent Lemmy Caution. The narrative is described as one that focused on the forensic detail of violent death in a period when the readers were fascinated by sensational murder and the emerging science of detection. It is characterized by the British author's attempt to write in a purely American vein and features the cynicism and graphic violence that are present in the Caution books.
Can Ladies Kill? and the other narratives in the Caution series cemented Cheyney's position as one of the most popular storytellers of his time, serving as an interesting example of the author's skill for breakneck pace, colorful characterization, wit, and intricacy of plotting.
The public source identifies “Can Ladies Kill?” as book by Peter Cheyney. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ladies, Kill and book.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5029070. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1938.
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This entry incorporates text from “Can Ladies Kill?” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.