Let's not forget Dave Robicheaux's adopted daughter Alafair, who is as disgruntled at his
hard-boiledness as the rest us. I think JLB tries to mke hime as unlikable as possible.
bt
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, JIM DOHERTY <jimdohertyjr@...> wrote:
>
> Michael,
>
> Re your analysis of the MIKE HAMMER series below:
>
> "A woman who loves Hammer, especially a woman Hammer literally
> touches, must die, and my dad used to say as we watched the show and
> saw Mike/Stacy Keach take a new girl, 'Well, sheŽll be dead by the end
> of the show.'"
>
> That's actually a fairly accurate depiction of how Hammer's love life plays out in the
books, except that, quite often, the love interest in a given book might also turn out to be
the villain (which I think happened on several of the TV episodes, too), and Hammer is the
one who either kills the love interest, or contrives to get her killed.
>
> "Of course, there were two women, his secretary Della, and the Lady in
> Red, whom Mike never would or could touch, who always lived.
> My former wife saw this treatment as misogynist, yet it does appear
> part and parcel of the genre, with some exceptions."
>
> Mike's secretary (and, for practical purposes, business partner, since she had her own PI
license) was named Velda. Della was Perry Mason's secretary. The Woman in Red was a
character created specifically for the TV series, and had no counterpart in the books.
>
> In the upcoming Hammer novel, THE GOLIATH BONE, there are rumors that Velda will
finally become Mrs. Hammer.
>
> JIM DOHERTY
>
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