Sex, Lies And Private Eyes

Sex, Lies and Private Eyes

Various Authors

ISBN #978-1933076454

Moonstone Books www.moonstonebooks.com

Price $14.24

274 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

This is another mix batch of stories from Moonstone. Most are topnotch stories by authors with an extensive resume. There are 17 stories included: The Private Wife of Sherlock Holmes by Carole Nelson Douglas (featuring Sherlock Holmes & Irene Adler); Between Heaven And Hoboken by Kevin VanHook & Jamie Sapp (A Mr. Keen story); Murder Gone Wilde by Mike W. Barr (featuring the Maze Agency); The Mind of The Dead by C.J. Henderson (A Kolchak & Lai Wan story); The Pretty Corpse Matter by Eric Fein (A Johnny Dollar story); Recreational Vehicle by John Lutz (a Nudger & Carver story); Eulogy In Blood by Steven Grant (Featuring Pat Novak); Denbow by Stuart M. Kaminsky (a Toby Peters story); Making Michief by Adisakdi Tantimedh (a Blackshirt story); Love Nest by Barbara & Max Allan Collins (a Sam Knight story); Cutting Corners by Christine Matthews (a Candy Matson story); The Doxy Next Door by K.G. McAbee (a Domino Lady story); The Most Vulgar of Insanities by C.J. Henderson (a Jack Hagee story); The Thrill Is Gone by Gary Phillips (featuring the Envoy); Laying Hands by Fred Van Lente (Featuring the Silencers); Ashes In The Wind by Robert J. Randisi (a Truxon Lewis story); and Unreasonable Doubt by Max Allan Collins (a Nate Heller story). A few stories did not seem to belong since I thought this book was supposed to feature private eyes.  Making Michief by Adisakdi Tantimedh was a vigilante of some kind, plus it was just a plain waste. Blackshirt really does nothing but tells his contact he’s sleeping with two women and learning all the secrets of the so-called bad guys. The Thrill Is Gone by Gary Phillips is a dead man who is now supposed to be God’s (?) assassin. Laying Hands by Fred Van Lente is about a mob hit man and space aliens. Oddly, in Murder Gone Wilde by Mike W. Barr a reporter, Gabriel Webb, friend of the main character, solves the case from a clue that he didn’t see. The main character saw it, along with the readers, but Gabriel was nowhere around. Between Heaven And Hoboken by Kevin VanHook & Jamie Sapp was not the Mr. Keen of radio, sorry. The Mind of The Dead by C.J. Henderson really could have had anyone but Kolchek, because the character of Kolchek in this story just didn’t bring the tension the old Night Stalker series contained; although Lai Wan was much better in her role. My two favorite stories in this volume were The Doxy Next Door by K.G. McAbee & The Most Vulgar of Insanities by C.J. Henderson

The stories that triumph overshadows the miscast tales, and most stories are worth reading, except for a few that shouldn’t have been in the volume in the first place.

Tom Johnson

Echoes Magazine