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