>JaneC mentioned Richard Deming. I'm not familiar with
the book she listed,
>but I remember a series he wrote that, as best I can
recall, was pretty
>entertaining. "The Gallows in my Garden," "Tweak the
Devil's Nose" and
>"Whistle Past the Graveyard." They feature Manville
Moon, a wise-cracking
>Midwestern private detective. Moon appeared in a
couple of short stories in
>Manhunt. Deming also wrote at least one book, "Hit
and Run," about an ex-cop
>turned PI named Barney Calhoun who is a little more
serious about his work
>than Moon.
Dick, you're right on about the Manville Moon books. I
haven't read the books, but I've managed to track down a few
of the short stories, and they're all really good. Moon is
very similar in tone to early Lew Archer, Dewey's Mac or
Michael Collins' Slot Machine Kelly, a mixture of compassion,
tough, pulpy energy and hard, sharp prose. He's also one of
those "defective detectives" we were discussing recently.
Thanks to WWII, he's got a cork, steel and leather
contraption where his leg used to be.
Only thing, you refer to him as a Midwestern eye. I was under
the impression that he was working in Buffalo. Doesn't really
matter though--these are just great stories.
Anyway, I suggest we all go out and find as many old issues
of Manhunt as we can, before they all end up in landfills or
get hermetically-sealed in plastic by some A-type collector
who puts 'em in a museum and charges all the people a dollar
and a half just to see 'em....
And in the category of "Someone Actually Said That":
>I don't mind paying 6.99 for a 400 page book, but do
for a 180 page book...
Yeah, well, if page count versus price is the critical
standard, I guess Dennis Lehane's stuff is good, after
all.
See, Paul, you were naive like me. It turns out it's not the
words, it's how many of 'em you can get for a dollar. Coming
next from Dennis Lehane: the Boston area phonebook. Lots of
words, non-contrived characters and an excellent
word-to-price ratio. It's a breath of fresh air. Reserve your
copy now. You won't want to miss it!
But I digress....
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
This month: The P.I. Poll on Short Fiction, plus new stuff
from Hugh Lessig, Peter Parmantie and Dave White.
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