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.

Tonight We Ride...

LIVE! FROM PALMDALE! It's the Fall issue of The Thrilling Detective Web Site!

Yep, it's the big number 43, by my reckoning, and it's officially up.

Naturally, it's much delayed, but we're here. And we even have enough good stuff in the can for another issue in December (touch wood), our annual Holiday issue.

I've whined elsewhere about the latest stumbling blocks, so I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say, though, that we're here, got beer, get used to it. Or, er, something like that.

As usual, fiction editor Gerald So has weeded through the slush pile to come up with a fistful of hard-boiled gems. We kick off with Richard Helm's THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GORDON BLACK, a tough nugget featuring his series eye Eamon Gold that shows exactly why he keeps getting nominated for Shamus Awards. Mark my words, it's only a matter of time.

From Stephen Blackmoore, making his TD debut, is SUMO, a taut little tale from Hawaii of greed, drugs and a 500-pound corpse. This is paradise?

Another newcomer to this site is Gary Alexander, who coughs up HUMPTY DUMPTY, a sucker punch of a period piece that recalls the glory days of Gold Medal. Don't let the nursery rhyme title fool ya -- this is the real deal. You can practically smell the Brylcreem. And the treachery.

We also have a couple of interesting excerpts this month, both with back stories. Seth Harwood's THIS IS LIFE, featuring former actor Jack palms, was actually first published as a podcast. In fact, the first novel in the series, JACK WAKES UP, was the first crime novel to ever be serialized as a podcast. We're proud to present the first prose publication of THIS IS LIFE, and look forward to (literally) hearing more from Seth.

(By the way, Seth has also contributed a recent review of Richard Aleas' SONGS OF INNOCENCE for this site. Check it out.)

Last issue, we published "Mickey Spillane," fiction editor Gerald So's moving ode to the late, great author. This issue we have something even better: an excerpt from Spillane's latest novel, DEAD STREET, prepared for posthumous publication by Mickey's fellow crime writer (and good friend) Max Allan Collins. A special thanks to HardCaseCrime, the Spillane estate and Max for allowing us to run the excerpt.

And an extra thanks to Charles and the gang at HardCaseCrime, as well as illustrator Athur "Marvel Zombies!" Suydam, for allowing us to use the bitching cover art from DEAD STREET for our cover as well.

Sharp-eyes viewers may have noticed that there's no P.I. Poll this time out, but our annual Thrillies will be returning in December (promise!), and of course we're constantly adding, updating and tweaking our ever-growing database (check out our recent rash of Joes, fer example) , which now numbers somewhere around 2600 entries, and that includes well over two hundred new or revised pages on the site since we last spoke -- and in the next few weeks, there'll be more on the way -- so feel free to browse. And keep coming back. Novembers a catch up month, and I'm aiming for daily updates.

Of course, as always, I couldn't do this alone. This sucker takes a lot of time and money, so I'd like to take this moment to thank all those who make it all possible: Gerald, of course, but also our contributors, the long-suffering Girl Detective and especially our sponsors for this issue, who include Patricia Abbot, Dave White, Anne Sladovich and Rich Harvey. Your support is much appreciated, guys.