Showing posts with label GUMSHOE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GUMSHOE. Show all posts
Friday, December 08, 2023
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton: Reviewed by Jeanne Yes, I’m very late coming to the Kinsey Millhone party! When I first became aware of Sue Grafton’s series, she was ...
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Short Story Review: 13 Shots Of Noir by Paul D. Brazill
As noted in the subtitle of 13 Shots of Noir the e-book contains 13 short, sharp stories of booze, bullets and bodies. The read fully delivers on those aspects and plenty more. This collection of dark tales by Paul D. Brazill opens with “The Tut.” While comparisons to Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart are obvious, Oliver Robinson has his own particular version of the nightmare in his west London home. So much so he killed his wife, Gloria, just making things worse.
If you need “Anger Management” you could see a therapist.
Or, you could channel it by joining up with “The Squad” which featured guys by
the name of “Tubeway, Slammer” and Col. They go
beyond the idea of football hooliganism by adding mugging to
the mix. The four guys are so good at it
they begin to get paid by Mr. Bettis who assigns them a specific job each month
to accomplish.
Charlotte lives in East London in “The Friend Catcher.” The
title of the story is also her name for a rather creepy neighbor who has tale
of the past and a job for her.
When you are a serial killer sometimes you need an
assistant. Even better if the assistant has a dog as made clear in “The Ballad
Of The Kid.”
Though she came to the idea early, it took a long time for
Carole Parker to actually plan to kill her husband in “The Man Behind The
Curtain.” At least, that was her initial plan.
There are scores to settle at the party after the screening
in “The Final Cut.” The public drama on film only hints at private situations.
Freddy in obsessed with a celebrity known as “M.” In the
story by the same name Freddy is finally going to meet his obsession.
“Mr. Kiss and Tell: A Peter Ord Investigation” is one of the
longer tales in the book. Told in five short parts, it follows the case of
Billy Kirby, who wants to find his missing wife and son. They had good reason
to flee all those years ago. Not that this private detective can’t be too
choosy as he doesn’t have that many cases as it is.
Father Tim thought he was done hearing confessions at the
end of one hot August day until Mad Mack showed up. Mad Mack has bloody feet, a
busted lip, and other issues as well as quite the tale to tell. He wants to
confess in “Sins of The Father.”
When you wake up after a night of heavy drinking with torn
and bloody clothes and your bedroom is trashed you know things are not good.
The fact that this sort of thing and more happens to one guy on a fairly
regular basis is the point of the tale “Drunk on The Moon.”
Brendan Burke was well known for his regularity of a
lifetime of habits. In “Everyday People” his regular schedule isn’t easy to
maintain after being run down by a scooter. He is going to need some help once
he gets home from the hospital.
Alison Day kept to herself and stayed out of things. That is
until a stranger in the street collapsed at her feet in “Stamp Of A Vamp.”
“Thump” might mean somebody is in the pub in the ground
floor. It might be her as she has not been around in a while. Or it might be
something or someone else.
The 13 tales presented in 13 Shots Of Noir first appeared in 2009 and 2010 on a variety of websites. Some are mystery related, some are more super natural type tales, but all are good flash fiction or a little bit longer stories that are highly entertaining. At 63 pages this is a fast read and a good introduction to the work of Paul D. Brazill author of A Case Of Noir, Gumshoe, and Guns Of Brixton, among other works. Published by Untreed Reads, this is a quality read well worth your time.
Material was recently picked up to read and review during one of the author’s free read promotions.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015, 2023
Saturday, September 28, 2019
SleuthSayers: A little about Private Eyes by O'Neil De Noux
SleuthSayers: A little about Private Eyes: by O'Neil De Noux We all know there is no one-way to write, no one type of private eye, no rules – except to write clearly. In ...
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Review: "13 Shots Of Noir" by Paul D. Brazill
As noted in the subtitle of 13
Shots of Noir the e-book contains 13 short, sharp stories of booze, bullets
and bodies. The read fully delivers on those aspects and plenty more. This
collection of dark tales by Paul D. Brazill opens with “The Tut.” While
comparisons to Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart are obvious, Oliver
Robinson has his own particular version of the nightmare in his west London
home. So much so he killed his wife, Gloria, just making things worse.
If you need “Anger Management” you
could see a therapist. Or, you could channel it by joining up with “The Squad”
which featured guys by the name of “Tubeway, Slammer” and Col. They go
beyond
the idea of football hooliganism by adding mugging to the mix. The four
guys are so good at it they begin to get paid by Mr. Bettis who assigns them a specific
job each month to accomplish.
Charlotte lives in East London in “The
Friend Catcher.” The title of the story is also her name for a rather creepy
neighbor who has tale of the past and a job for her.
When you are a serial killer
sometimes you need an assistant. Even better if the assistant has a dog as made
clear in “The Ballad Of The Kid.”
Though she came to the idea early,
it took a long time for Carole Parker to actually plan to kill her husband in
“The Man Behind The Curtain.” At least, that was her initial plan.
There are scores to settle at the
party after the screening in “The Final Cut.” The public drama on film only
hints at private situations.
Freddy in obsessed with a celebrity
known as “M.” In the story by the same name Freddy is finally going to meet his
obsession.
“Mr. Kiss and Tell: A Peter Ord Investigation”
is one of the longer tales in the book. Told in five short parts, it follows
the case of Billy Kirby, who wants to find his missing wife and son. They had
good reason to flee all those years ago. Not that this private detective can’t
be too choosy as he doesn’t have that many cases as it is.
Father Tim thought he was done
hearing confessions at the end of one hot August day until Mad Mack showed up. Mad
Mack has bloody feet, a busted lip, and other issues as well as quite the tale
to tell. He wants to confess in “Sins of The Father.”
When you wake up after a night of
heavy drinking with torn and bloody clothes and your bedroom is trashed you
know things are not good. The fact that this sort of thing and more happens to
one guy on a fairly regular basis is the point of the tale “Drunk on The Moon.”
Brendan Burke was well known for his
regularity of a lifetime of habits. In “Everyday People” his regular schedule
isn’t easy to maintain after being run down by a scooter. He is going to need
some help once he gets home from the hospital.
Alison Day kept to herself and
stayed out of things. That is until a stranger in the street collapsed at her
feet in “Stamp Of A Vamp.”
“Thump” might mean somebody is in
the pub in the ground floor. It might be her as she has not been around in a
while. Or it might be something or someone else.
The 13 tales presented in 13
Shots Of Noir first appeared in 2009 and 2010 on a variety of websites.
Some are mystery related, some are more super natural type tales, but all are
good flash fiction or a little bit longer stories that are highly entertaining.
At 63 pages this is a fast read and a good introduction to the work of Paul D.
Brazill author of A
Case Of Noir ,
Gumshoe
and Guns
Of Brixton among other works. Published by Untreed Reads this is a quality
read well worth your time.
13 Shots Of Noir
Paul D. Brazill
Untreed Reads
November 2011
ASIN# B006AG3H6M
E-Book
63
Pages
$0.99
Material
was recently picked up to read and review during one of the author’s free read
promotions.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2015
Monday, January 13, 2014
Review: "Gumshoe" by Paul Brazill
New Year’s Day would be ugly enough thanks to the
hangover if it wasn’t made worse by neighbors playing a certain and very annoying
U2 song over and over. Fortunately in Seatown, a fading town on the northeast
coast of England, Peter Ord, can pick up a few bucks here and there as a
private investigator so that he can buy the booze and pills he needs to function.
Look up self-medicating patient in the dictionary and there would be his name
and a picture as he fits the classic definition. Despite his issues with drugs
and alcohol he can get the job done when needed and the job is right. One such
client is about to be Jack Martin who owns the “Velvettes” and a number of other strip joints in the region.
Jack clearly does not think much of Peter, but what
he wants done should be easily handled by a man of his talents such as they
are. He thinks some of his girls are giving customers a little too much
pleasure outside the club and he wants them identified. If anyone is doing so,
he wants to know about it. All he wants Peter to do is fit in with his clientele
in the various places and find out what is happening. Considering the shape
Peter is in these days, fitting it will not be a problem.
It is a case he can handle and one that indirectly
leads to other cases and situations in this dark and very good novella from
Paul Brazil. Much like Peter in his life, Gumshoe drifts along at a steady pace
with no discernable end point in sight for much of the read. Peter works cases,
meets people and makes observations on life. Sometimes funny, sometimes
caustic, those observations add color and nuance not only to Peter, but to the
cases themselves in this very enjoyable read.
Gumshoe
Paul
Brazill
Blackwitch
Press
September
2013
ASIN:
B00FITKXA0
E-Book
(available in print)
65
Pages
$1.99
Amazon advises me I picked this up last December.
The author is very generous in making his titles available as free reads and I
can’t remember now if I got it that way or he sent it to me directly. Either
way it was for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
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