eware the Young Stranger (May 1965)

John Vallancourt, the cool, calm diplomat, was worried stiff. A dear friend was dead and his daughter Nancy was missing. John feared the worst and the worst was Nancy's sweetheart Keith Rollins. Keith was the prime suspect in the case and he was running scared, dragging Nancy into danger with him. If Keith was a murderer, John was certain of one thing. He had to catch Keith before the cops did, or he might find himself with one very dead daughter...!

What's the matter with you, Keith?

With her hand on the car door, she ventured a look over her shoulder. "Do you really want me to go?"
"Why not?"
"You're lying to me, you know. What happened in town?"
"All right," he said through stiff lips, "You're asking for it. Here it is. In town they're looking for me. They're saying I killed Aunt Dorcas." She looked at him for several seconds as if she were about to giggle. He caught her arm at the elbow and shook her slightly. "Did you hear me, Nancy?" She continued to stand there and stare at nothing. Then a thread snapped inside her. With a clawing motion she put her hands to her face and started sobbing.

When a diplomats daughter falls in love with a man suspected of murder, he goes in search of the truth. The kids call it spring break, but their parents know it by its true name: debauchery. Every Easter, hormone-crazed students pile into cars and drive thousands of miles to the beach to lose themselves in an orgy of beer, sand, and sex. Keith Rollins and Cheryl Pemberton are two such revelers: college sweethearts planning to marry the moment they graduate. But in the heat of a party, the couple gets separated; the next morning, the girl is found raped and murdered beneath the pier and Rollins is the prime suspect. Though Rollins is never convicted of the crime, the cloud of suspicion lingers over him. Years later, he becomes engaged to the daughter of diplomat John Vallancourt, who resolves to find out the truth. When Vallancourts daughter disappears, he fears the killer has struck again.

Cast of characters included. Written by Talmage Powell. According to Nevins "Flat writing, uncompelling characters and predictable solution add up to a tepid bore that, despite his loyalty to Queen, Anthony Boucher didn’t bother to review."