Unwrapped at Last!!!

Damn. Right after I uploaded the preliminary -- and very rough -- draft of the new "issue" of the Thrilling Detective Web Site (on Christmas Eve, no less), my health took a nosedive (&^%$# annual holiday cold!) and it's taken me until today to more or less tweak it so that it's fit for human consumption. But yes, we are now open for business.

As usual, fiction editor and Santa's Helper No. 1 Gerald So has dug through his goodie bag to come up with a fistful of hard-boiled treats, for all you good little boys and girls.

We kick off with Dick Stodghill's "Step Into My Parlor", a leisurely jaunt through the 1930s featuring his wide-eyed reporter, Bram Geary, and his considerably more jaded private eye pal/hero, Jack Eddy.

Paul Sundeson also gives us a juicy period piece featuring two buddies. "Piece by Piece" is an early 60s tour of duty through the pre-Civil Rights Big Easy that will stick to your ribs.

And just in case you think we're stuck in reverse this time out R. Narvaez gives us "El Bohemio", a taut little jaunt through the
mean streets about as dated as today's newspaper.

We've also got a very special treat for long-time fans of the genre, courtesy of the boys at HardCaseCrime. We're very pleased to present an excerpt from the new Ms. Tree novel, Deadly Beloved, by Max Allan Collins.

If, after all this time, you guys still don't know who Ms. Tree is, this is the perfect time to get a clue. Created originally as a comic book by Collins and cartoonist Terry Beatty (who did the snazzy painted illo on this issue's cover), Ms. Tree is simply one of the best -- and arguably the toughest -- private eyes to ever slip on a dress and a pair of stillettoes (what Mike Hammer did in his spare time is another story).

If you've never read anything featuring Ms. Tree, you are in for a good time -- Deadly Beloved is her first novel-length appearance in prose, a bold new retelling of her origin and hopefully, marks the return of one of the all-time great characters in detective fiction. In any medium. This is pure pulp for now people.
(Can you tell I'm a big fan?)
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Not content with short fiction? Like something a bit more substantial than a mere snippet? Here's a Christmas tip for those of you who like your P.I. fiction in longer bursts: Australian writer Susan Geason has made her third Syd Fish novel, Hook, Line and Sinker, originally penned way back in 1998, available for free on her web site.

And what would our Holiday issue be without our always popular Cheap Thrill Awards? The "Thrillies" are, of course, our annual survey of the last year in private detective fiction. As always, we're asking you what YOU think. Vote early, vote often.

Who knows? You might enjoy bering involved in something where what you think actually matters. Plus it beats having to go all the way to Iowa.

Put a bow on it. We're done.