"Pattern for Panic" by Richard S. Prather, was published in 1955. The main character, Shell Scott, is in Mexico City and is asked to help out Senora Lopez, who is married to a Mexican General. She is being blackmailed, having been secretly filmed having sex with someone who is not her husband.
She has already paid the blackmailer a couple of times, but wants the blackmail to stop.
During Scott's investigation he finds himself beaten, thrown in jail, threatened with snakes, in conflict with Communists, and in a fight for his life.
The Communists are a recurring theme in this book. It was written in 1955, in the middle of the Cold War, and shows the attitude of many Americans during this time frame.
I have been a Shell Scott fan for many years, reading my first Shell Scott mystery(borrowed from my Dad's collection) in the early 1960s when very young, and generally I enjoy them. I hadn't read this one before, and it isn't one of my favorites. There is a little too much propaganda in it for my taste.
This fulfills a requirement for the Mt. TBR Reading Challenge
It also fulfills a requirement for the Vintage Mystery Challenge#22 Repeat Offenders.
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