Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

I usually post my Tuesday's Overlooked Films on Monday, but this one is going to be a busy one, so I'm posting today. I've had a yen for some time to watch a Sherlock Holmes film if just to break up my steady diet of films noir. I've enjoyed reading the Sherlock Holmes stories since I was a kid. So, I decided on the best story I remember reading. The 1939 film adaptation with Basil Rathbone as the famous British sleuth is regarded as one of the better ones. I like the lean and dark-featured Rathbone. He seems to have a droll sense of humor, too. Nigel Bruce as the bumbling Dr. Watson I'd like to see as a little more on the ball. Rathbone and Bruce would go on to make 13 more Sherlock Holmes movies. The mean dog used in the scenes gave me a bit of a fright. I would NOT want to meet up with this Fido on a foggy, dark street or moor. It was good to see John Carradine playing the Baskervilles' butler and possible murder suspect. I enjoyed reliving the tale all these years later with this realistic film set in the right Victorian period. IMDb.com gives it a 7.7 score which is really high. But I don't quibble with it. Great stuff and superior entertainment.

My Newest Crime Novel: TOPAZ MOON

My latest crime novel Topaz Moon was first released this week as an ebook. The paperback version hit the streets a short while back. The publisher is Crossroad Press who also brought out my crime noirs Ask The Dice and Blood Diamonds, both original releases. The best way I know how to describe Topaz Moon is to call it a suburban crime noir with romance. It is similar in that way to Ask The Dice and Blood Diamonds.

Here's the book description for Topaz Moon. Criminal attorney Hondo Gunn is practicing law in the Virginia town of Emerald Shire where he falls for a younger woman, Aggie Essex, who works for an IT firm. Hondo once served as the consigliore for an organized crime outfit headed by its ruthless chieftain, Drake Hardcastle, and his equally ruthless and gorgeous daughter Maeve. They strike a deal so Hondo can leave Chicago on the condition he has to return if Maeve ever needs his legal expertise. Years later, after Drake dies under suspicious circumstances, Maeve orders Hondo back to help her run the outfit she now leads. Her message reaches Hondo in Emerald Shire, but smitten with Aggie, he balks since he understandably wishes to remain close to her. When Maeve learns of his refusal, she grows angry and decides she must personally teach her maverick lawyer to honor his commitments. Topaz Moon is a stylish, fast-paced crime novel about obsession, greed, and passion with the strong-willed Maeve and Aggie raging at the center of Hondo’s maelstrom.

I hope you'll consider putting Topaz Moon on your reading list.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Crime Wave Starring Sterling Hayden

This 1954 police procedural crime movie directed by André De Toth stars Sterling Hayden, Gene Nelson, Phyllis Kirk, and a young Charles Bronson (credited as Charles Buchinsky). Nelson plays an ex-con married to Kirk and gone straight when his old prison buddies, including the hood Bronson, show up on the dodge after making a prison break. The fugitives have a large bank heist plan in mind and pressure Nelson into playing the wheelman (pilot). Hayden is a wide-shouldered, square-jawed cop determined to stop the bank robbery and catch the fugitives. He gnaws on toothpicks in place of smoking cigarettes when he isn't growling out orders. I'm not a big fan of Hayden in his other movie roles I've seen, but I liked in this movie just fine. The onsite black-and-white photography of L.A. and Glendale/Burbank provides us with a nice snapshot of a past time and place. Wikipedia says many of the buildings and landmarks have been since razed, sad perhaps but not surprising. I also enjoyed seeing Bronson who does a good job playing a swarthy thug. IMDb.com rates Crime Wave as a 7.4/10 which I quibble with as being a bit on the high side. I watched Crime Wave on the DVD box set bought from Warner Brothers.

My First Paying Job

The start of the warm months remind me of my first regularly paying job. It was a summer job, of course. I worked the grills at our local McDonald's restaurant. It was hot and tiring work, especially when a busload of hungry customers piled into the front lobby. The pay was low, but it was better than nothing, so I loved getting it. We got free food for our break. I consumed lots of fries and Big Macs. I worked the evening shift (4-12, or whatever times I finished up) which also included closing the store. If you have ever worked as a store closer, you know how much stuff that entails. Much of it involved taking inventory and cleaning the equipment. Scraping and cleaning the hot grill was done with pickle juice. I don't remember much else about the actual job. Since I watch my weight due to high cholesterol, I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in many years. I can't say I miss eating the food there, but I'll always very much appreciate the hard work the diligent folks behind the counter do for their customers.

You Can "Like" The Reading Samples From My Published Novels

Goodreads allows the authors to post samples of their writing to their Goodreads account. I have always appreciated the useful feature both as a writer and a reader. As I published my different crime novels (private eye, noir, and cozy) over the past few years, I included a reading sample from each novel, usually the first chapter. For my short story collection, Smoking on Mount Rushmore: 16 Selected & New Short Stories, I posted two of the shorter stories as reading samples. The reader feedback and comments I have received have been positive and supportive of the reading samples. The one-page list of all my reading samples found on Goodreads appears at the link below. If you have a free moment or fancy a quick read, please click over and take a look. If the reading sample appeals to you, please also feel free to hit the "LIKE" button. We authors really appreciate it!

Goodreads link to the reading samples from my published novels posted on Goodreads (click on the link). 

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: IN A LONELY PLACE starring Humphrey Bogart

This 1950 crime noir starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame with Frank Lovejoy in a minor role as a cop detective consistently places on the best-of lists for the film noir subgenre. Bogart is often credited for the best performance of his acting career in his playing the role of Dixon Steele, a washed up Hollywood screen writer. He is accused of murdering a hat check girl who he brings back to his apartment to give him the plot summary of a prosaic novel he's supposed to adapt into a film script. He then sends her off to the cabstand with twenty dollars. The next morning she is found murdered as a dump job. Of course, Steele is regarded as the lead suspect. His neighbor Gloria Grahame (perhaps also her best role) becomes his love interest who is unsure if he is the killer or not. Bogie looks a little worn around the edges, but it fits the rugged, proud, and lonely character he plays. There is lots of cigarette smoking. Unfiltered cigarettes, I believe. I'm used to seeing it in film noir, but this time I saw it more it seemed. At any rate, I immensely enjoyed watching IN A LONELY PLACE and can't really add anything to what has already been said. It is choice film noir, and I am curious enough to now want to read Dorothy B. Hughes' novel. I've already read a few of her works like The So Blue Marble and remember liking them. 

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Where Danger Lives Starring Robert Mitchum

Since I'll be busy this week with my writing projects, I went ahead and posted my Tuesday Overlooked Films blog today. This neat, twisty film noir released in 1950 stars Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue (in her film debut), and the always solid Claude Rains. Maureen O'Sullivan (the director's wife and better known for her role as Jane in the Tarzan movies) plays Mitchum's love interest waiting for him back in San Francisco. The dark-haired Domergue plays a wonderfully crazy femme fatale, and Mitchum is her doctor and then lover. They bump off Claude Rains playing her husband. Then our desperate lovers lam off for Mexico (where else do killers go?) to avoid the police dragnet trying to catch them. I saw shades of Robert Mitchum's classic Out of the Past in this movie, especially with the femme fatale roles. While our lovers wait to get across the border into Mexico, Mitchum begins to see what a nut job he has gotten involved with, but it's almost too late. I'm not sure why but he always seems to get hooked up with these batty women. Mitchum's concussion & subsequent paralysis, among other things, is a bit much to swallow, but the acting is raw and well-done. John Farrow who directed Where Danger Lives is actress Mia Farrow's father who has had her share of life problems. Where Danger Lives is a terrific film noir that I intend to watch again soon I hope.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Trapped Starring Lloyd Bridges

This 1949 nifty crime noir stars Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, and John Hoyt. Bridges, who later played the humorous, crusty character of Izzy Mandelbaum on the TV sitcom Seinfeld, is first rate as a counterfeiter who is doing time. He was also the father of actors Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges (Academy Award for the Best Actor in the 2009 film Crazy Heart which I saw and liked). Anyway, the Feds release Lloyd Bridges but keep him on a short leash to track down the source of the phony bills that are flooding L.A. Of course the shifty Bridges is only willing to go along with the Feds' deal if it benefits him. Bridges always seems to be playing his movie roles with a slight tongue-in-cheek casualness which I enjoy. It's interesting to see the trolley cars running in L.A. I wonder if the steel tracks are still there like I see them on the Washington, D.C streets. Don't be put off by the voice-over sounding like a documentary film about the U.S. Treasury Dept. at the start of the movie. I guess the documentary style was big at the time because I've seen other films produced the same way. Barbara Payton who plays Bridges' gorgeous love interest led such a tragic personal life, but here she is quite cool-headed and competent. A solidly acted movie, Trapped is also a short one.

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Mysteries & Scandals: Raymond Chandler

This blog isn't really about a movie per se. But it's close enough for me to include it. Back a few years ago, I used to watch E!'s Mysteries & Scandals TV series (1998-2000) hosted by A.J. Benza ("Fame, ain't it a bitch."). Wikipedia says Benza's other claim to fame was to punch out somebody on The Howard Stern Show. At any rate, when I found an episode that had been done on Raymond Chandler, I decided to check it out while I did my daily session on the Health Rider. My hope was I'd be interested enough to forget about the boring exercise I was doing. Well, it almost worked. The program's format lasts for about 21 minutes (30 minutes if you include the commercial ads). I'd been meaning to read a Chandler biography, so I had an added incentive to watch. Benza takes us down the mean streets of Chandler's celebrated L.A., his writer successes, his marriage to Cissy, and his last forlorn drunken years lived out in La Jolla, a fancy suburb just north of San Diego (I've been to La Jolla). I already knew most of this information. Robert J. Parker who completed Chandler's unfinished ms. Poodle Springs is interviewed for a few minutes which is interesting stuff. I think Parker said Chandler just wrote the first 4 chapters. If you have a few minutes, you might want to check out this episode of Benza's series.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Lady Confesses (1945)

This 1945 crime noir was directed by Sam Newfield who has been called "the most prolific director of the sound era." The movie production company PRC Pictures was his baby and one of the so-called Poverty Row outfits. Most of his films were low budget quickies of which this was one. However, I found it entertaining enough as a traditional whodunit murder mystery. Hugh Beaumont and Mary Beth Hughes are engaged to be married when Beaumont's estranged wife shows up after a puzzling seven-year absence. Soon a sleazy night club owner and square-jawed homicide captain get involved with the murder plot. The dialogue is a bit stilted, but Hughes does a decent job as an amateur detective. Of course, Beaumont went on to star as Beaver's father on the popular TV series. There are three songs. Not a bad film or way to spend a little over an hour. IMDb.com gives it a 6.2 rating.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Plunder Road

Plunder Road is a nifty 1957 crime film noir directed by Hubert Cornfield and starring Gene Raymond, Elisha Cooke, and Wayne Morris. Jeanne Cooper who played Katherine Chancellor on the long-running CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless is the romance interest. Five men pull a brazen train heist in a rainstorm and make off with a shipment of gold from the U.S. Mint. The fun is first watching them steal the gold shipment and then see if they get away with it. Well, we all know crime doesn't pay. The gang splits up into three teams, each hauling a part of the plunder in a different type truck, all of them bound for L.A. They have done their homework, and everything goes according to plan. Well, almost everything. The train heist reminds me of one of Richard Stark's Parker's theft jobs. The cast is solid, everybody playing it straight and nothing over the top. Elisha Cooke is good as he always is. TRIVIA: One of the robbers (Stafford Repp) played Police Chief O'Hara on the old Batman TV series. I kept thinking he looked awfully familiar to me. Also, the L.A. smog officer doing his duty in 1957 is interesting to see. There are a couple of surprising twists at the end I got a kick out of. IMDb rates Plunder Road with a 6.9 which I think is a bit too low. This is a taut, snappy crime movie I'd probably watch again if I ever find the time.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Guilty Bystander

This 1950 cop movie is a diverting film with Zachary Scott playing the alcoholic Lt. Max Thursday. The movie was adapted from the crime novel of the same title by the fine duo of writers known as Wade Miller. Robert Wade was still living and reviewing books into the early 2000s for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He reviewed (favorably) my private eye novel The Blue Cheer published in 2007. Anyway, Max Thursday has quit the NYPD and works as a house dick between his drinking binges when his young son goes missing. Faye Emerson playing his ex brings him the bad news, and Max feels obligated to get sober and go find his son. The version of the film I watched was pretty bad quality with some of the scenes almost completely dark. Plus the sound quality was scratchy and inaudible in spots. At any rate, Scott turns in a gritty, earnest performance, and his crusty landlady played by Mary Borland is also good. I liked the film and just wish there was a better copy available for watching. I'd give it a solid 6.5 rating out of a possible 10. The Max Thursday private eye series by Wade Miller is also entertaining to read.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Side Street

This fine 1950 film noir also fits the bill as a police procedural. The cast pairs the charismatic Farley Granger and doe-eyed Cathy O'Donnell again after their earlier successful crime film "They Live By Night" (1948) which I also saw and liked (except the sound quality was so scratchy on the DVD I had). Farley plays a part-time mail deliveryman who sees an opportunity to swipe what he thinks is $200 but turns out to be 30 grand. O'Donnell plays his pregnant wife, and they really need the money like most young newlyweds do. After a change of heart, Granger decides to return the money which sounds like a simple matter except there are complications thwarting his intentions. According to Wikipedia, the film actually lost money which surprised me. I liked the camera work, especially the overhead shots of New York City. Granger plays a good desperate man determined to get out of his jam. The car chase scene is handled well. IMDb.com gives "Side Street" a strong 7.2/10.0 score, so the film still resonates with modern viewers.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Illegal Starring Edward G. Robinson

This 1955 crime film starring one of my favorite actors of the gritty genre, Edward G. Robinson, is an entertaining, watchable movie. Nina Foch, Jayne Mansfield (she does a good job in a serious role as a minor character), and Edward Platt (later the Chief on the TV sitcom Get Smart) also star in it. EGR plays a go-for-the-throat DA who mistakenly sends an innocent man to the gas chamber. He resigns his office in disgrace and decides to switch tables and become a sharpie defense attorney. The problem is EGR continues to use his sometimes questionably ethical tactics to win his cases, and this gets him in trouble with the local crime bosses. An interesting aside, EGR eloquently comments on his own art collection that he lent for the movie's set. The House Un-American Activities Committee hounding EGR forced him to star in the lesser movie roles such as this one. Nevertheless, he is always a real pro and gives this movie some style and depth. I saw it on the DVD sold by Warner Brothers.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Johnny Angel

This short 1945 film noir was directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Frank Gruber and Steve Fisher, both writers whose works I have read and enjoyed. It stars George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso, and Hoagy Carmichael. Marvin Miller is also good in his minor role. Raft, who I have never seen before in a previous film, plays a merchant marine captain coming into his homeport of New Orleans. I think he has the similar mannerisms and inflections to the actor Humphrey Bogart. Anyway, Raft's father, also a steamship captain, has been killed along with most of his crew. Raft decides to do a little detective work along with Carmichael as his cabbie/sidekick to get to the bottom of who murdered his father and why. The alluring photography alone is enough to like Johnny Angel (wasn't that a later song title?). We get to see the foggy, murky, and shadowy piers in The Big Easy during the 1940s (or maybe the Hollywood back lot version). The femme fatale Claire Trevor, always excellent, doesn't get a meaty enough role, probably not easy to do with such a short run time. The gorgeous Swedish actress Signe Hasso plays Raft's love interest. Hoagy who also plays and sings a number is always fun to watch in his roles. IMDb.com rates Johnny Angel with a low 6.6/10.0, and I'd quibble with that mark. My score goes to 7.5 just because I like the cast of performers and the noir photography.

Status Update & New Front Cover For My Second Private Eye Novel

My blogs have settled down to appear a couple of times a week right now as I finish up a couple of book projects. I usually run a Tuesday's Overlooked Films entry and one other blog. One of my current projects is finishing Frank's next hard-boiled adventure titled After the Big Noise. Meantime this is the new cover for my second P.I. Frank Johnson novel The Dirt-Brown Derby. Here is the book description:

Private Investigator Frank Johnson in his second exciting caper is hired by Mary Taliaferro, a wealthy aristocrat owning a horse estate near the affluent city of Middleburg, Virginia. Mary’s teenage daughter Emily has died in a horse riding tragedy. The local law enforcement says it is an accident. However, the grieving Mary thinks it is murder. Frank is broke, and the pile of money Mary offers is too good to pass up, but his case quickly becomes more complicated when her stable manager is murdered one day after he begins his investigation. Frank soon discovers that there is a lot more going on here, and he is determined to get at the truth, even if it kills him!

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Hatchet Man

Edward G. Robinson stars as a Chinese "hatchet man" (i.e., hit man) in a San Francisco tong (i.e., gang). The 1932 movie was made before the Production Code went into effect, allowing the picture to include and show adultery, narcotics, and a gory hatchet that EGR wields with deadly impact. I liked this short picture even if the Chinese culture is filtered through the 1930s Hollywood prism. Of course, it is non-PC. The always reliable EGR is the main reason to watch The Hatchet Man if you are a fan of his work which I am. The romance angle in the plot works with a real nifty twist at the end. Loretta Young (I didn't even recognize her) plays EGR's young wife who is wooed by a smarmy young Chinese bodyguard (Leslie Felton). I wished some Asian actors (none are used) had appeared in the cast. Entertaining and fairly short, The Hatchet Man earns a 7.0/10.0 rating from me.

When Typewriters Once Wrote The Words

Meet Hobart Reese of Washington, D.C. This picture of him is from the U.S. Library of Congress archives. In 1922, he created a stir with his dramatic typewriter art. He specialized in doing presidential and movie star portraits. Little is known of what became of Mr. Reese. In the computer age, what he did is easily done with the push of a button. The article caught my eye because his dexterity with a typewriter is in direct contrast with my typist skills. I was all thumbs in trying to type. I took a typing class in the tenth grade and abhorred the typing tests. We had to type as many words possible in a set time and make as few mistakes as possible. My typing tests had all sorts of red corrections made on them. I only passed the class because a buddy who was a natural typist did a few tests for me. I learned on a manual typewriter. The electric ones were too expensive. At any rate, I thought I'd never be worth a spit as a typist. Flash forward a few decades, and I've published fifteen books. So, I guess in that respect I haven't done too badly. But I'd never do the spectacular artwork Hobart Reese did with his typewriter.

See the online article here:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/01/the-original-ascii-art-was-just-this-guy-and-his-typewriter/

The Books On My Nightstand Right Now

 I have large nightstand filled with books, of course. I decided to survey what books are currently cluttering up my nightstand. I bought Strunk and White's The Elements of Style while I was in college, and I still have my copy of it. The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing by Richard Hugo is also a favorite book on writing I read. Hugo, a celebrated poet, also wrote murder mysteries. My wife gave me John Grant's fabulous A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir: The Essential Reference Guide for Christmas. I enjoy watching film noir and Mr. Grant's opinions are similar to my own, so I'll keep it around closeby. My basic Kindle also shares space with my paper books. Right now I'm reading Charles Williams' fine crime pulp noir Nothing In Her Way on my Kindle. There are a few Sports sections because I fall behind in my reading the columns. At times, I have library books, but there are none this week. I don't know what the reading contents of my nightstand says about me, but it sure is handy to have one next to my bed.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Phone Call From A Stranger

This 1952 melodrama starring Bette Davis isn't really much of a film noir. Still it's an entertaining movie that I got caught up in watching, so I stuck with it. Gary Merrill (Bette Davis' real life husband) plays a lawyer who leaves his cheating wife. On the plane to the West Coast, he ends up with fellow passengers Shelley Winters, Michael Rennie, and Keenan Wynn. They form an informal "Four Musketeers" club and agree to stay in touch with each other. It is well-acted and, I liked the script. The flashbacks are handled nicely, and there's a life lesson to be learned from the picture. Michael Rennie for some reason looks to me a bit like Michael Richards (Cosmo Cramer on Seinfeld). Shelley Winters is brash and funny in her role as an aspiring actress. IMDb rates it 7.3/10.0, so its popularity is there. Phone Call From A Stranger just isn't my usual cup of tea.

The Repeat Secondary Characters In A Mystery Series

I've been working my way the through the final edits on my new P.I. Frank Johnson title (#7 in the series), and I've noticed several of the secondary characters have appeared in all or most of the previous titles. That got me to thinking about the repeat secondary characters. They are as important as the protagonist is to make the series a successful continuation. I like seeing the familiar face(s) come up in a series novel because I feel like I already know them. I may or may not particularly like them, but I am reassured to know they are still around. They are like the guideposts to look for. I like to have Frank interact with his friends and loved ones. My favorite of the secondary characters is his sidekick, Gerald Peyton, who is a bounty hunter with a reckless, fearless streak a mile wide. They play off each other well. One thing I have resisted doing is having Gerald do the dirty work that Frank won't do. After all, partners share everything, even the bad stuff. I hope Frank and Gerald will be around for a few more adventures. They have been fun company for me.

Pinterest for Dummies (Like Me)

For the past couple weeks, I've been working on my new Pinterest account's boards. In case you don't know, Pinterest is a social media platform which allows you to "pin" images taken from the internet in one central location. Of course, it's a lot more involved than just that, but I'm still learning the ropes there.

When I first made my foray into the twitter world, I blogged a few times about my experiences/adventures there. Going on 18,000 tweets later, and I'm not sure I'm an experienced user because I learn something new about twitter daily, it seems.

At any rate, I thought it would be fun to blog about my also taking the plunge at Pinterest. Since I enjoy watching film noir, I set up a board on the different recent movies I've liked viewing. The other boards have been more challenging to identify and select. I included one on D.C. baseball and the new movies in 2014 I'll see.

I'm sure I'll have new ideas as time goes by. Today I "followed" three other accounts, including one that had "pinned" one of my old book's cover which is pretty cool to see. Anyway, this is where I hang my hat, so to speak, on Pinterest:

http://www.pinterest.com/edlynskey/

I plan do a couple of future blogs about what I've learn as I tackle trying to understand what Pinterest is all about. I don't spend a lot of my social media time there right now, but I have made it part of my weekly regimen.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Beware, My Lovely

This 1952 film noir was produced by Collier Young/Ida Lupino's movie production company The Filmakers. They also made other films like The Hitchhiker and Private Hell 36, both of which are entertaining crime films from this same period. Beware, My Lovely is a bit different. A young Robert Ryan plays an odd jobs man from back in 1918, and Ida Lupino, who runs a boardinghouse, hires him with no references. Big mistake. It is Christmas and her boarders have all left town to visit family. So, she and Ryan are the only ones left in the house. He turns out to be a schizophrenic who at times can be dangerous, even a killer as suggested in the opening scene. At other times, he's gentle and vulnerable. The film is based on a play, and all of the action is set inside the rooms at the boardinghouse. This sounds like a boring movie, but in the hands of Ryan, the film turns into something else. If you are a fan as I am of his work, you should check out his performance in this flick. Ida Lupino also holds her own. IMDb.com gives it a 6.5/10.0 rating, but that is too low in my opinion. I'd go a solid 7 based on Ryan's character.

The New Cover For My Private Eye Frank Johnson Novel Troglodytes

I redid the front cover for my P.I. Frank Johnson title Troglodytes. It is set in Turkey, my only novel set exclusively outside the United States. I spent some time working in Turkey during the early 1990s. I reprinted the review appearing in the Lansing State Journal by Ray Walsh:

Crime, mayhem and murder are the focal points of two recent crime novels that are mostly set in far-off countries. Each is full of intriguing characters and violent action, but differ greatly in their approach.

"Troglodytes," by Ed Lynskey is considerably darker, showcasing private investigator Frank Johnson, who's appeared in two earlier novels.

This classic hardboiled tale in mostly set in Ankara, a bustling city in Turkey.

American diplomat Sylvester Mercedes has vanished from his hotel room. Lois, his prominent socialite wife, hires Johnson to find out what happened to him.

Johnson needs the money to pay the IRS, so he takes the case. He stays in a seedy hotel room and tries to follow minimal leads. As he investigates, possible suspects emerge, including a loudmouth beer salesman and a sleazy hotel manager.

The diligent private eye gets assistance and has unexpected results, leading to a realistic, satisfying conclusion.

Reading the Complete Series in Order

Once in awhile, a reader will start at Book #1 (Pelham Fell Here) of my P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery Series and read each title in subsequent order until the final book (The Zinc Zoo). I've got to love such readers. I guess the appeal is to stick with the one main character they like and follow his or her series of adventures. The readers can see the peaks and the valleys to the main character's life. Views and attitudes change as the main character grows older (perhaps even wiser). I believe Frank is less wild and impulsive than he was in his younger days. When I wrote the series, I decided to try and make each title stand on its own power without readers having to read the other books. The other thing I wanted to do was keep out any spoilers to give away the endings in Frank's other titles. The first reader I know of who enthusiastically read the series (it was a shorter series back then) was on MySpace. After it tanked, I lost track of Helen. So it goes. Meantime Frank and I keep on trucking. His next book is titled AFTER THE BIG NOISE, due out later this year.