A Crime Club Mystery.
In 1937, Universal entered into a deal with Crime Club, a publisher of popular pulp mysteries, allowing it to select up to four of its books annually for production as B-pictures. The Crime Club series was produced by Irving Starr. This was the third of eleven novels produced under the deal.
Universal was in dire straits in 1937-38 as it sought to plug the cash drain created by the Laemmles, who had been ousted during the costly production of Show Boat. While none of these B-pictures was especially successful, the Crime Club deal is an example of the new regime's willingness to work creative marketing tie-ins.