After a short introduction
to the book by, publisher J. Alan Hartman, it is on to the twelve short
stories. Some are written by names you may recognize. Others by names that are
unfamiliar to you. All authors involved have weaved a complex tale very worthy
of their inclusion in The Untreed Detectives anthology
released last year.
Kara L. Barney leads things
off with “A Knife in the Dark.” This story is set in the time before Sherlock
became legendary. Watson has been injured by a killer as this story opens and
Mrs. Hudson is urgently needed to save his life. She will also need to do far
more then stitch Watson's stab wounds in order to bring this case to be a
successful conclusion.
Paula and Mitexi run the
uniquely named PMS Private Investigations in “Angus Wants a Peanut” by Amber
Rochelle Gillet. According to Mitexi, the two have to be in Lilli Pad Park at 11m
by the statue of the bull frog to meet a Mr. Ryan Majors. He insists on meeting
there and won't discuss what he requires until that time. After the very
serious previous story, this occasionally amusing tale is nice chance of pace.
Mr. Ryan as well as his case are quite surprise.
Jessie Schroeder has moved
back to her small town of Riverport in the wake of a brutal divorce. She has
resumed writing while moving on with her life. In “Breathing Under Water” by
Janet Majerus, Jessie has traveled to La Cumbre, New Mexico, to teach a writing
workshop for her friend Sharon. Fortunately for her she won’t be the only
instructor. The small workshop of ten students in this mountainous location in
northern New Mexico is going to be interesting. She had needed a break from
home on many levels, but this is not what she had intended at all in this
serious story.
“Dessie's Jaded Past” by
Lesley A. Diehl comes next. Like Jessie in the story before this one, Kaitlin
Singer is starting over after her divorce. She has come home to the Catskill Mountains
to write children's books and get on with life. Her plans for solitude have
been interrupted as Mary Jane and her son, Jeremy, have moved in with her. So
too has their potbellied pig, Desdemona. She has helped capture the killer of
the newspaper's advice columnist and will play a vital role again in this tale.
Known for his book In
Dog We Trust and others, author Neil Plakcy contributes “Dog Is in the Details”
next. Rochester, a two year old Golden Retriever, helps Steve Levitan not only
find his father's sport jacket, but how to deal with some painful aspects of the
past.
Halloween in Philadelphia is
the setting for “Faint Heart” by Gillian Roberts. For Amanda Pepper, a teacher who
should be working on the essays of her seniors, she is instead thinking about
how the magic of Halloween isn't around anymore. That is until Rosalie Tucker,
new to the faculty, comes into the lounge talking about the scary gorilla
outside in the square across the street. Something may have been out there, but
it is Halloween and there are private school students to teach. Soon there will
be a murder case to solve.
Imogene Duckworthy has been
solving cases since she was a child. We see a little bit of that childhood here
in “Immy Goes to the Dogs” by Kaye George. It began near her home of Saltlick,
Texas when she pet sat Mrs. Yarbrough's two Cocker Spaniels. It is the summer
and Immy is supposed to let out Sweetums and Tweetums so they can do their
business and get them back into the house. Should have been a simple deal, but
there were complications.
If you don't like clowns you
probably won't like a story where clowns are an actual species. In “Scandalous
Silence” by Whit Howland, not only are clowns a species they bleed makeup and
not blood. Cheating happens on that world just like they do here and Huey Dusk’s
latest case is about somebody cheating on somebody. It is a dark and twisted
world and Huey travels the mean streets of Kermisberg doing what he needs to do
to make a buck. At least the clown gangs and mime syndicates don't exist
anymore and one can get Bubble Gum Whiskey.
Diana Andrews is being asked
by Detective Breitwieser if she knows anything about a certain guy as “Split
the Difference” by Albert Tucher begins. She does not know him, but she knows
of him. As a prostitute she knows to stay well away from the man known as “The
Baker.” The detective wants her help and she really has no choice.
Instead of sitting in a car
conducting surveillance on a cheater, P. I. Nathaniel P. Osgood III works cases
involving nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters. In “The Cinderella Caper” by
Herschel Cozine we learn the real truth about that tramp Cinderella and lots of
other things in this occasionally amusing tale.
P. I. Guillermo Lombardo is
at work in “The Wrong Move” by Rodolfo Pena. Chess, a complicated case, and
Mexico City combine well here in a tale that is part mystery and part thriller.
Not all chess games are on boards.
“The Trident Caper” by Wade
J. McMahan is the final story and features private detective Richard Dick in a mystery
tale that has paranormal elements as well as fantasy elements. Interrupting
Dick's chess game with Percy (a ghost) she walked into his Chicago office.
Great body, great legs, but the hair is green. She says her name is “Coral” and
has no last name as the merpeople don't have them. Coral is a mermaid who is on
a long trip from home looking for more than her father's treasure chest. The
chest does not matter for her, but they also took her father's golden trident
and she wants that back.
A section of author bios
brings the book to a close.
This is an interesting
anthology of twelve stories where each one contains a mystery of some type. Not
all mysteries have a murder case and several that do not are contained here in The
Untreed Detectives. The stories fluctuate widely in tone as some are
light hearted and even playful while others are far more serious. Most of the
tales here are short stories featuring series characters from novels which
gives readers an excellent way to sample various author's works. It is an
interesting smorgasbord of cases that will provide plenty of good reading.
The Untreed Detectives
Edited by J. Alan Hartman
Untreed Reads Publishing
December 2013
ASIN: B00HEXNVAW
E-Book
160 Pages
$5.99
Material was supplied in the
form of a PDF by the editor some time ago in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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