They all feature the beer-soaked adventures and screwball
cases of
Chicago-based P.I. CHANCE PURDUE.
They are all titled The "Something-or-other" Caper.
They are all written in one-sentence paragraphs.
Like this.
And no punctuation.
Except for periods and question marks.
Each chapter begins with witticisms, quotes and aphorisms
from Monroe D.
Underwood.
I don't know who he is either.
Some people think they're a real hoot.
Some don't.
Author Ross H. Spencer went on to create a whole slew of
low-rent,
hard-drinking stumblebum Chicago private eyes who stagger,
stumble and
bumble their way through cases in a self-induced alcoholic
fog in pursuit
of truth, justice, nymphomaniacs and beer. Fortunately, he
dropped the
annoying prose style. Some of his other gumshoes include
LACEY LOCKINGTON,
"BUZZ" DECKARD, BIRCHY KIRBY and LUKE LASSITER.
The books are: The Dada Caper (1978), The Regis Arms Caper
(1979), The
Stranger City Caper (1980), The Abu Wahab Caper (1980) and
The Raddish
River Caper (1981)
BLATANT PLUG: I lifted this info from the
soon-to-be-unleashed-upon-the-world Thrilling Detective Web
Site. I'm
negotiating with a server right now, and should have
everything up at a
permanent address within a week or two. Don't worry, this
list will be the
first place I announce it.
Victoria, concerning your view on Hammer: you go, girl!
> (And, lest I come across as some kind of harridan,
let me
>say that there are writers whose misogyny I can
forgive, or at least
>forget, for the sake of their writing. Chandler comes
to mind right off.
>Spillane just ain't that good.)
Maybe it's because Marlowe, Archer, or even Spade, were
gentlemen. And Dan
Turner was a buffoon. But Hammer? He's a pig.
And the fact you have to pre-defend yourself, by saying
you're not a
harridan, shows how little some attitudes have really
changed.
And Anthony, welcome to the club. It's about time we got
another Smith in
here. Them darn Dentons is poppin' up all over.
But I digress...
Kevin Smith
Web Guy for The Thrilling Detective Web Site
For info, mailto:kvnsmith@total.net
"Everybody loves a loser,
They wanna see him pay his dues,
Everybody loves a loser,
But they don't wanna stand in his shoes."
-Murray McLauchlan
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