Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Delivery: A Mercury Carter Thriller by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

 

Make sure you read Aubrey’s review of The Mail Man, the preceding book, here.

 

The Delivery (Mysterious Press, March 2026) by Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the second thriller about former U.S. Postal Inspection Service agent Mercury Carter. Carter is now a freelance courier, hand-transporting cargo too precious to entrust to the usual delivery mechanisms.

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Carter is en route to Providence to deliver a vintage 1951 baseball card signed by Cleveland Indians/Boston Red Sox shortstop Lou Boudreau to 91-year-old Lenny Pellegrino, who had seen Boudreau play in person. Carter, also a baseball fan, was looking forward to making the delivery and meeting Pellegrino.

The pounding rain makes navigation precarious and Carter encounters a wrecked vehicle with an unresponsive driver, an obvious victim of hydroplaning and diminished visibility. He is attempting to extract the bloodied woman behind the wheel when another vehicle stops and its driver, a large man with a gun, demands that Carter get away from the accident victim. Carter declines and the first physical altercation of the book, and there are many, ensues.

Thus begins a complicated tale in which Carter takes on what he thinks will be a quick delivery in Pawtucket before he goes on to Providence, which turns out to be nothing of the sort. The quick side trip spirals into multiple encounters with an assortment of human rogues--traffickers, drug sellers, and IT fraudsters--each of whom is running a separate con while angling for a larger piece of the profits from the various scams underway with their colleagues. Double-crossing and backstabbing abound.

As expected, Carter’s quick wit and resourcefulness come into play again and again. It takes some time to sort through the assorted agendas of the multiple players and their schemes, I had to re-read sections of the narrative here and there to make sure I understood them, but Carter eventually works his way through a truly impressive quagmire of grift, larceny, and violence to the other side and a satisfying ending.

I am grateful for the early review copy of Mercury Carter’s latest adventure and recommend it unreservedly to thriller fans who will be pleased to make Mercury’s acquaintance.

 

·         Publisher: ‎The Mysterious Press

·         Publication date: ‎March 24, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎336 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1613167172

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1613167175

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Nv0ZtY 

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Dark City Underground: Review: "Ceylon Sapphires" by Mailan Doquang

 Dark City Underground: Review: "Ceylon Sapphires" by Mailan Doquang

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Mailman by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is an accomplished author of 11 books who has been nominated for the Shamus, Derringer, and International Thriller Writers-awards. Welsh-Huggins is also the editor of Columbus Noir (Akashic Books, 2020), and his short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and Mystery Tribune, among others. He’s written eight mysteries about Andy Hayes, a former Ohio State University quarterback turned private investigator. His nonfiction book No Winners Here Tonight (Ohio University Press, 2009) is the definitive history of the death penalty in Ohio. Hatred at Home: al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest (Swallow Press, 2011) documents a lengthy government investigation into terrorism that started in Columbus, Ohio.

The Mailman (Mysterious Press, January 28, 2025) launches a new thriller series with an original main character who takes the post office’s motto on the indefatigability of a mail carrier a step or two further. It wasn’t snow or rain that was interfering with independent courier Mercury Carter’s attempt to make a delivery to Rachel Stanfield, it was the full-blown home invasion that was in progress when he arrived. He makes short work of the thugs at the door of the Stanfield house; the remaining toughs flee this unexpected interference, taking Rachel with them. Carter follows them from Indianapolis into Illinois and points south, intent on completing the hand-off he was hired for. Each stop along the way involves a confrontation in which the kidnappers come off second best but not convincingly enough to make them leave Rachel behind.

Carter’s background as a postal inspection agent is a novel way to establish plausible law enforcement experience as well as knowledge of the mechanics of package delivery. Carter demonstrates creativity in problem solving. For instance when he needs a different vehicle because his is familiar to the kidnappers, he takes advantage of the labor shortage everywhere and signs on as pizza delivery guy just to access a different car for a short time. The pizza shop owner’s frustration when she realized her new driver lasted about an hour was palpable, understandable, and funny. All in all, Mercury Carter is an excellent contribution to the crime fiction hero pantheon. I am looking forward to the next installment of Carter’s adventures. Recommended.

Library Journal starred review and Library Journal Mystery Pick of the Month.

·         Publisher: ‎Mysterious Press (January 28, 2025)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎360 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1613166109

·         ISBN-13: ‎+978-1613166109

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3CgNwjN 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Pro Bono by Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry is a well-known source of topnotch contemporary suspense and thrillers. He’s received the Edgar Award once and the Barry Award twice and been shortlisted for major awards too many times to count. His latest stand-alone thriller is a fascinating deep dive into banking and investment crime. 

Pro Bono (Mysterious Press, 14 January 2025) introduces Charlie Warren, a lawyer and CPA who specializes in finding money hidden from his clients. He fell into this niche early, as his widowed mother was robbed by an opportunistic second husband while Charlie was in college and Charlie tried unsuccessfully to trace the money Mack Stone took. Now Vesper Ellis retains him for assistance, as she thinks something is wrong with her investment accounts. Withdrawals have been made in her dead husband’s name and balances are not what they should be. Charlie agrees with her assessment; he narrows the inconsistencies to two investment firms and files the papers to ask for a legal accounting of the monetary discrepancies, thereby alerting the senior managers of the stockbrokerages of likely problems. Shortly after the asset management companies acknowledge the requests, Vesper turns up missing and a pair of thugs try hard to keep Charlie from his meeting with one firm’s lawyers.

Charlie has considerable presence of mind when the goons attack, more than I expect most lawyers might have. He also shows himself willing to cut corners in the manner of his illustrious predecessor Perry Mason. He is definitely the lawyer to call in case of trouble.

The story falls naturally into three parts, each showcases a different approach to appropriating money from someone else. I found the tutorials on financial crime absorbing and educational but I think some bits, particularly where the investment company culprits fall out, as thieves inevitably will, could have been tightened up to good effect. The transition from one story line to the next is a little awkward but not enough to disrupt the flow. This thriller could easily be two short stories and one novella with the same main character.

Overall, I loved this book. A well told story with an ingenious plot and original characters. Charlie Warren has series potential but I see the title is listed as a stand-alone. Recommended, especially for fans of legal thrillers and financial mysteries.

 

• Publisher: Mysterious Press (January 14, 2025)
• Language: ‎English
• Hardcover: ‎360 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎1613166168
• ISBN-13: ‎978-1613166161

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gNdmuQ 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Dark City Underground: Review: "Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop" ed. by Otto Penzler

 Dark City Underground: Review: "Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop" ed. by Otto Penzler

A Request from Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop

 I received the below Friday and thought I would share here. If you have any questions, please reach out to him at  ottopenzler AT mysteriousbookshop.com

Hi Kevin,

            For the past 28 years, I’ve been the series editor of what is certainly the most prestigious mystery anthology of the year, for the first 23 years with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for the past four with the Mysterious Press. Because your site is devoted to mystery short stories, I have to think you’re aware of these books.

            Michele Slung has been the first reader for every edition and, strangely, neither she nor I knew about your important site until a few days ago but are delighted that we have found you.

            I don’t know if you do this sort of thing but I’d like to ask if you could announce to your members that we would welcome submissions, whether from magazines, collections, or anthologies. We are aware of the major magazines in the field and receive their comp copies with regularity, and receive books published by the major publishers, but we try hard not to ignore smaller publishers or e-zines.

            Would you consider recommending to your readers and publishers that they should submit work to me? Only hard copies, please. My mailing address is Otto Penzler, The Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren Street, New York, N.Y. 10007.

            FYI, I pay a reprint fee of $500 for every story (20 a year).

            Thank you. Of course, please let me know if you have any questions.

            Sincere best wishes, Otto

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Another Day’s Pain by K. C. Constantine

K. C. Constantine was the pen name of Carl Constantine Kosak (1934-2023). He was born in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania, and lived most of his life in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, both suburbs of Pittsburgh. He memorialized the two towns as the city of Rocksburg in his series about Mario Balzic, chief of police, beginning in 1972. These books increasingly moved away from the traditional mystery format and focused on the economic decline in western Pennsylvania and its impact on the citizens of the region. His concern is always on the people of his stories.

After a gap of over 20 years, one last book in the series is being published, wrapping up the character arcs. Another Day’s Pain (Mysterious Press, 2024) finds Mario Balzic long retired and his friend Rugs Carlucci contemplating retirement while dealing with his failing mother. His sometime girlfriend has promised to never put her mother in a long-term care facility and is wearing herself to a thread between a full-time job and the growing difficulty of caring for her mother alone. When the two manage to compare notes, they are sad but see no way to change their hopeless situations.

In the meantime all of the members of the force with children have gone on vacation at the same time, leaving Rugs and a couple of others to juggle the various calls for assistance in Rockburg. In a hilarious scene Rugs is sent to deal with a woman off her medication terrorizing her ex-husband and their daughters. Rugs has had to cope with her before and he knows just how outrageous she can be. In another frightening sequence Rugs takes on a shooter who has killed his roommate and is attempting to kill everyone else in the apartment house.

The latter confrontation lands Rugs in hospital for a few days, giving him plenty of time to think about leaving the job behind forever.

Alternately somber and comical, this book is a fitting end to a masterpiece of a crime fiction series. Constantine had a gift for creating original characters and bringing them to life on the page in scenarios that every reader can identify with.

Starred review from Publishers Weekly.

For more about Constantine, see Jeff Siegel’s article from Mystery Scene magazine: https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/article/3139-across-the-great-divide-kc-constantine-takes-the-detective-novel-into-uncharted-territory

 

·         Publisher: ‎Mysterious Press (April 16, 2024)

·         Language: English

·         Hardcover: 232 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1613164831

·         ISBN-13: 978-1613164839

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aeD2ND

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024

 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Bluetick Revenge by Mark Cohen

Mark Cohen practices real estate law in Colorado. He also founded The Plain English Institute, a nonprofit that advocates the use of plain English in legal and other technical documents. In addition to years of private practice, he’s served as an Air Force Judge Advocate, municipal judge, and Special Assistant U. S. Attorney. Along the way he wrote two books of crime fiction, both about former lawyer turned private investigator Pepper Keane. Keane oddly enough also served as a JAG and also lives in Colorado. He loves dogs and readily accepts the assignment that kicks off the second title Bluetick Revenge (Mysterious Press, 2005).

Karlynn Slade has escaped from her violent drug-dealing biker boyfriend and turned State’s evidence. She refuses to testify without her dog, a champion bluetick hound named Prince. So her lawyer, Keane’s former partner, hires Keane to liberate Prince. Keane is dismayed to find this excellent dog chained outside with a frozen water dish and lost no time in moving him to a safer location.

Keane’s next assignment is to monitor Karlynn until the FBI can relocate her into the Witness Protection Program. Karlynn eludes him after a few days, and Keane’s search for her takes him into the Pacific Northwest. He encounters well-armed militant skinheads while there and picks up evidence linking to a long-ago unsolved murder. In the meantime the biker boyfriend has issued a bounty on the man who kidnapped his dog. Between dodging the thugs looking to make fast money and the skinheads who resent his intrusion into their wilderness enclave, Keane is a busy guy.

This thriller leans toward a caper with its wry humor and low-key mayhem in its beginning chapters. The droll narrative and devotion to dogs remind me of the Andy Carpenter mysteries. The story becomes quite serious toward the end as all of the plot threads come together in a satisfying ending.

Keane and his friend Scott make a great team; think Spenser and Hawke or Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Probably leading the charge to create more understandable legal documents is a better use of Cohen’s considerable writing talent but I am sorry there are only two books about Pepper Keane.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Mysterious Press; First Edition (July 20, 2005)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 0892968001

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0892968008

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express: Stuart M. Kaminsky

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express: Stuart M. Ka...: Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is a fictional ride on the Trans-Siberian Express. It is part of a series by Stuart M. Kaminsky, set i...

Lesa's Book Critiques: SHOULD I FALL BY SCOTT SHEPHERD

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SHOULD I FALL BY SCOTT SHEPHERD

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Bones of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake

James Carlos Blake is an intriguing writer who focuses on the underworld along the Texas border in his fiction and non-fiction. He’s written several fictionalized biographical accounts of such notables as John Wesley Hardin, Pancho Villa, and Harry Pierpoint of the Dillinger Gang. I discovered The Rules of Wolfe, the second in his fictional family saga, about 10 years ago and have followed the books ever since.

The Wolfe family is a large far-flung group of people related by blood, marriage, friendship, and mutual interest. They have established an extensive criminal organization in Texas and in Mexico, well hidden by innocuous and diverse commercial fronts. Their most recent adventure as documented by Blake, The Bones of Wolfe (Mysterious Press, 2020), is positively frivolous compared to the previous entry The Ways of Wolfe (Mysterious Press, 2017), which was a somber story of a Wolfe gone astray.

In this outing Rudy and Frank Wolfe, the family’s field investigators, i.e., enforcers, are assigned the task of finding an illicit arms shipment that was hijacked by a rival gang and dealing with the turncoat in the Wolfe organization who revealed the delivery details. In the process of retrieving the guns, they also acquire an assortment of pornographic movies, which they feel the need to review before passing on. A member of the viewing audience sees a strong similarity between the star of one movie to photos of a great-great-aunt who disappeared as a teenager and shares that information with the family matriarch Aunt Catalina Luisiana Little Wolfe. Aunt Cat never forgot her sister and wants badly to find her descendants, if there are any. Everyone in the family is afraid of the formidable old lady, so when she asks to borrow Rudy and Frank for a few days, everyone agrees to release them from their current assignments. She gives them the task of finding the actress and bringing her to Brownsville, Texas, so that Aunt Catalina can meet her.

The plot is lighter than previous Wolfe tales and the writing is not as tight although the narrative is as propulsive and adrenalin-charged as ever. The signature shootouts with massive arsenals and high body counts are here, as are the deep family loyalties. Blake can stage a gunfight better than anyone else I can think of. Action-packed and violent, this thriller is a great addition to the Wolfe canon. I continue to be amazed that Blake is so little known. Recommended reading, especially for fans of Western thrillers.

 

Publisher: Mysterious Press (July 7, 2020)

Language: English

Hardcover: 272 pages

ISBN-10: ‎0802156886

ISBN-13: 978-0802156884

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Guest Post: 5 UNDERRATED LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES by Tom Mead

 Please welcome author Tom Mead to the blog…  

  

5 UNDERRATED LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES

by Tom Mead

 

I make no secret of the fact that I’m obsessed with locked-room mysteries. I love to read them, I love to write them, and I love discovering books that offer new spins on the classic tropes and tricks of the subgenre. For those who aren't in the know, "locked-room mystery" is typically a sort of umbrella term for "impossible crime" fiction. That is, fair play puzzle mysteries in which the question is not only whodunit but also how. 

John Dickson Carr was the most prolific and accomplished writer of locked-room mysteries, as many genre fans know, and some of his most famous titles include The Hollow Man and He Who Whispers. He churned out a string of masterpieces, and needless to say I devoured them all- as I do with pretty much every story I can find which tackles the locked-room or the impossible problem.

But with such a niche subgenre, you will inevitably encounter repetition of the same trick from time to time. Speaking as someone who has attempted to come up with locked-room problems for my own stories, I can tell you originality is a major challenge- that’s part of the fun. It makes me admire the work of Carr and Ellery Queen and Clayton Rawson all the more, as well as the other authors who are rightly celebrated for their creativity in a very demanding sphere of the crime writing world. So here are a few titles that don’t get enough acclaim, but are well worth rediscovering.

 

(A quick disclaimer: I don't claim that these are the best locked-room mysteries, though they ARE very good. Simply that they’re underrated, and that they retain the potential to surprise even the most well-versed reader of puzzle mysteries. As such, they’re well worth seeking out.) 

 

Blood on his Hands by MAX AFFORD (1937) 

The work of Australian author Max Afford is often overlooked in studies of golden age mystery (which is a mystery in itself). Just about everything he wrote- with a couple of notable exceptions- was an impossible crime. His series sleuth, Jeffery Blackburn, appears in a string of complex and atmospheric novels. But I’ve picked Blood on his Hands as it may be the most gruesome and macabre of the bunch; a perfect showcase for Afford’s creativity and his very dark sense of humor.  

 

Hard Tack by BARBARA D’AMATO (1991) 

Barbara D’Amato’s Hard Tack is a seafaring mystery featuring series detective Cat Marsala. In the vein of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, it places the sleuth on a ship whose passengers are positively seething with hidden resentment beneath a veneer of society savoir faire. Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before a murder takes place- this time in a locked cabin. The solution here is surprising, gruesome and fiendishly practical. What more could you want?

 

You’ll Die Laughing by BRUCE ELLIOTT (1945) 

Bruce Elliott is an anomaly in the world of mystery fiction. As far as I know, You'll Die Laughing is his only published novel. It's a sort of madcap caper in which a group of strangers are gathered at the mansion of a sadistic recluse for reasons unknown. A classic set-up, but the solution to the apparently impossible locked-room murder is completely original. This is a short and briskly-paced book that is punchily written and dexterously plotted. Elliott also just happened to be a professional stage magician, which no doubt explains his knack for literary sleights-of-hand.

 

Mr. Splitfoot by HELEN MCCLOY (1968) 

I’m a huge fan of Helen McCloy's "Basil Willing" series, and like many critics I would rank her novel Through A Glass Darkly up there with the very best of Carr, Christie and Queen. While that book is her masterpiece, it’s by no means her only contribution to the realm of impossible crime. Mr. Splitfoot was written long after the end of the so-called golden age of mystery fiction in which locked-room mysteries thrived. But at the same time it is crammed with so many of the features that made the golden age great. This time, Basil is faced with a fascinating conundrum involving an apparently cursed room, where those who spend the night are seldom seen alive in the morning.

 

More Dead Than Alive by ROGER ORMEROD (1980) 

More Dead Than Alive is another magic-themed mystery, this time by a very prolific author of traditional puzzle mysteries. Roger Ormerod managed to carve out a lengthy career long after the golden age was over. He had a knack for twisting the conventions of the genre, and More Dead Than Alive makes the most of its gothic setting in an English castle where a stage illusionist has been unceremoniously hurled from a window in the locked room at the top of a tower. The solution to this one is completely fair play, but I bet you won't see it coming...

 

So there you have it: five more mysteries for your teetering TBR piles. Hopefully you’ll find something here to puzzle, beguile and confound you- as all good mysteries should.

 

Tom Mead ©2021

Tom Mead is a UK-based crime writer specializing in locked-room mysteries. He has written short fiction for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and numerous others. Recently, his story “Heatwave” was included in The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021 (edited by Lee Child). His novel Death and the Conjuror is forthcoming from the Mysterious Press in July 2022. You can find Tom at his website or on Facebook.

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Ways of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake

The Ways of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake (Mysterious Press, 2017) is the fourth book by Blake about the Wolfe crime family whose business interests lie on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. Axel Prince Wolfe, his father’s planned heir to the family law firm, decides to join his high school friend and a stranger in the theft of three-quarters of a million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds. Already married with a small daughter, he is planning to drop out of college and focus on the family’s criminal enterprises, despite the family rule that everyone must obtain an undergraduate degree before joining the company. [The Rules of Wolfe (Mysterious Press, 2013) goes into this requirement in more detail. I raved about this book in a post to DorothyL while attending the 2016 Left Coast Crime convention and still refer readers to it at every opportunity.] They successfully acquire the bonds but the getaway goes sideways, and his partners abandon him to save themselves. He refuses to give up the names of his cohorts to reduce his prison term, and he is sentenced to an onerous 30 years.

His relatives turn their backs on him, and he becomes fixated on the daughter who won’t visit him or write him. After 20 years in confinement he joins a young Mexican inmate with hidden ties to a cartel in planning a jail break, and they escape during a driving thunderstorm, leaving several bodies in their wake. After they manage to cross the river into Mexico, Axel is invited to join the cartel and helps them in an ambush of a rival gang. He desperately wants to see his now-grown daughter though, and off he goes.

Blake is an exceptional writer of fast-moving crime dramas. His grim descriptions of border desert crossings are meticulous in their hair-raising detail, and his depictions of shootouts and other action scenes are intense and pulse-pounding. While he’s received a good deal of recognition from critics, he is still not widely known among the thriller and mystery reading community, which is truly unfortunate for everyone.

Publishers Weekly starred review.

·         Hardcover: 304 pages

·         Publisher: Mysterious Press (September 5, 2017)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0802125778

·         ISBN-13: 978-0802125774

Aubrey Hamilton ©2019

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Dancing in the Dark by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) was a wondrously gifted author who wrote more than 60 mystery novels and several volumes on cinema. Mystery Writers of America awarded him the title of Grand Master in 2006 and the Private Eye Writers of America gave him The Eye Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. He had four series characters: Lew Fonesca, a sad process server in Sarasota, Florida, six books released between 1999 and 2009; Abe Lieberman, a Jewish police detective in Chicago, 10 books released between 1990 and 2007; Porfiry Rostnikov, a philosophical police inspector in Moscow, Russia, 16 books released between 1981 and 2010; and Toby Peters, a private investigator in Los Angeles whose clients were 1930s and 1940s movie stars, 24 books released between 1977 and 2004.

I read a few of the Lew Fonesca books some time ago, and the Toby Peters series has been on my TBR list for a while. So, when I found a copy of Dancing in the Dark (Mysterious Press, 1996) in one of my interminable book clean-outs, I took it as a sign. In this, #19 of Toby’s adventures, Fred Astaire has attracted the interest of a determined girlfriend of a Detroit mobster. She wants Astaire to teach her to dance and to undertake other activities with her, much to his dismay.  While the mobster changed his name when he relocated to Los Angeles, he did not otherwise change his thuggish ways, and Astaire has valid concerns about his future health and well-being.

Astaire is focusing on his wartime bond-raising tour and signs Toby up to teach the girlfriend in his place. Toby unfortunately has two left feet, as the saying goes, and makes a poor substitute.  When the girlfriend turns up dead in a ballroom where Toby and his friends are the logical suspects, Toby scrambles to protect himself, his friends, and Fred Astaire from the mobster’s wrath.

Excellent investigative work wrapped in effortless Golden Age Hollywood period detail. The scene where Toby borrows Cornel Wilde’s dinner jacket for an impromptu turn across the stage of Wiltern Theatre in front of a huge audience is side-splitting. An entertaining read.

·         Hardcover: 228 pages

·         Publisher: Mysterious Press; First edition (January 1, 1996)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0892965282

·         ISBN-13: 978-0892965281

Aubrey Hamilton ©2019

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.