In the award winning novelette “Julius Katz” the
latest client for Boston’s most famous and eccentric detective Julius Katz is
the 53 year old Norman Brewer.
Accompanied by her slightly younger sister, Helen Arden, she wishes to
discuss a family matter. A family matter she refused to tell Archie, Julius’
artificial intelligence sidekick, about over the phone thus preventing any real
planning by Julius prior to their meeting.
The issue involves their 83 year old mother, Emma,
who is suffering from the beginnings of Alzheimer’s. While provisions were made
for various things by their father six years ago before he died from cancer, their
brother Lawrence has taken over all of the legal aspects of their mother’s
situation. Julius does not like family disputes and wants no part of this
situation. However, like many a
detective before him, he does need the money and Norma Brewer is willing to
pay. He takes the case with some stipulations including meeting their mother so
that he and Archie can assess her condition. While very reluctant at first,
soon Julius is hard at work in a case that quickly takes a dark and sinister
turn.
Also included in this book is the award winning
story “Archie’s Been Framed.” As this one opens Julius has plenty of cash in
the bank. That means he is not going to be inclined to take a new case for
several months. What Archie sees as being lazy, Julius sees as enjoying the
finer things of life. Work is not the priority for Julius, but for Archie work
helps him refine his neural network.
With his current love interest Lily Rosten out of
town visiting her parents in upstate New York.
Julius is in a bit of a funk. A funk that a case would help lift. There
is no sign of that until Archie discovers that Denise Penny, a 27 year old
woman Archie has been in contact with, has been murdered. Unfortunately, Archie
quickly becomes a suspect in her murder. Though he can easily be cleared if the
true nature of his existence were revealed, it can’t be disclosed. Julius does
not have a choice – he has to investigate and clear Archie.
Both award winning stories are good ones and feature
interesting characters and cases. Humor, subtle and overt, is occasionally
present in sharp contrast to the darker side of human nature. The dark side of human nature keeps many a
detective and his sidekick employed and such is the case here in the very
enjoyable Julius Katz Mysteries by Dave Zeltserman.
Julius Katz Mysteries
Dave
Zeltserman
Top
Suspense Group
January
2011
ASIN:
B004KAA9LQ
E-Book
88
Pages
$3.50
A PDF by the author was supplied quite some time ago
for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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