I really enjoyed Loren D. Estleman’s “A Hatful of Ralph,” where Ralph Poteet, a private eye with plenty of problems, is reduced to playing Santa in a department store where he’s supposed to find out who is stealing plenty of items. Of course, on top of the thefts, there’s a murder to spice things up.
I also liked Michael Collins and Gayle Lynds’ “A Delicate Mission” where two spies need to find a diary with sensitive information. The mission runs into trouble that changes the entire outcome.
John Lutz gives a whole new meaning to Hopper’s Nighthawks with his haunting story of the same name.
Flesh & Blood: Guilty as Sin (2003), is as Max Allan Collins says on the cover, “This is the stuff of Literary Viagra.” GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION: Sinful Streets by Max Allan Collins and Jeff Gelb —xi
Low Tide / Dick Lochte — 1
Back o’ town blues / David Fulmer — 26
Dalliance at Sunnydale / Barbara Collins — 36
The Iberville mistress / O’Neil de Noux — 52
Service / Gary Lovisi — 72
The last reel / Gary R. Bush — 88
A delicate mission / Michael Collins, Gayle Lynds — 110
Perfection / Jeff Gelb — 127
Walking to Paris / Rex Miller — 136
Feel the pain / Michael Bracken — 141
Sex crimes / Michael Garrett — 160
Money-back guarantee / Marthayn Pelegrimas, Robert J. Randisi — 166
A hatful of Ralph / Loren D. Estleman — 182
Bank job / Thomas S. Roche — 199
The Windsor ballet / Deborah Morgan — 214
Good career moves / Robert S. Levinson — 236
Dicks are blind / James L. Traylor — 157
Lie beside me / Max Allan Collins, Matthew V. Clemens — 270
Mirror, mirror / Catherine Dain — 285
A Dick and Jane story / Jack Kelly — 294
The raiders / Gary Phillips — 303
The daffodil / Annette Meyers, Martin Meyers — 318
Nighthawks / John Lutz — 339
Contributors — 355
I remember enjoying this book when it first came out (almost a quarter of a century ago. (Could have been that long ago? How time passes.) A lot of top-flight authors from back then; one name brought back memories — Rex Miller. I used to devour his novels about the mindless psychotic killer Chaingang, but* have not thought of him for years. Some of the other authors I remember enjoying back in the day were Catherine Dain and “Maan Meyers” (Martin & Annette Meyer). Anthologies from Max Allan Collins and Jeff Gelb (by themselves or in tandem) were always interesting.