The Detective Tales cover for November

I have skipped this tradition in October, but I thought I would respect it before the end of November: as I do (almost) every month, it is now time to upload on this blog a cover from Detective Tales and comment on it. This is the cover from the November 1939 issue. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth a million. Like the one I uploaded in November 2012, it is overly melodramatic, with three archetypal characters: the hero, the villain and the damsel in distress. The damsel in distress is about to be crushed between the wall bed and the wall, tied down to it, the villain, a somewhat thuggish yet soberly elegant looking man with a receding hairline, is being prevented from shooting (who?) by the hero, who is holding his wrist and about to punch him in the stomach. The elaborate method of execution for the blonde damsel in distress, tied down to the bed (Murphy bed, tells me Wikipedia), mixed with the ripped off red dress and the rather deep cleavage charge the scene with sadoerotic elements. Freud would have had a field day with this. I have to say, I am impressed. This is really edgy, in so many ways. I wonder if there is any plot going with it, or if this is just the artist's imagination responsible for this cover. If there is a story this image is based on, I want to read it.