Mrs. Gladys Jellicoe has a serious problem and needs the help of private detective Shell Scott. He has come to her home in the Hollywood Hills from his office in the Hamilton Building on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles this warm September morning in response to her phone call. While she may have called him because she appears to be extremely well preserved— much like a mummy– apparently the real reason she called is the fact that her ex-husband is missing.

She believes him to be dead. Wilfred Jefferson Jellicoe is supposed to send her a monthly alimony check of three thousand dollars on or before the first of the month. “Jelly” as she calls him has now missed two payments. She has done some checking around of her own and has determined that he has not been seen at the Cavendish House in Hollywood for several days now. That is where he has been staying recently and he has not checked out. She has no idea where her ex-husband, at one time the assistant to legendary Hollywood movie mogul Gideon Cheim is, or why Jelly’s wallet was found in a seedy nightclub known as “The Panther Room.”

While she thinks Shell Scott’s going rate of one hundred dollars a day is rather expensive, she wants her missing alimony money as well as to find Jelly. She grudgingly agrees to pay and Shell Scott is on the case. One that will take him all across the Los Angeles area, into some adult activities with certain beautiful ladies, and a number of violent confrontations with several less than savory characters. That is when he isn’t smoking, drinking, or discussing things with the local cops.

Set in the 60’s, Shell Scott is the classic “man’s man.” He does it all and then some while making sure to be one step ahead of the bad and good guys alike. A fun read, The Cheim Manuscript: A Shell Scott Novel, twists and turns its way through 200 pages plus of mayhem and chaos all done with a slightly sarcastic tone. My first experience with a Shell Scott novel was highly entertaining and well worth the read.

The Cheim Manuscript: A Shell Scott Novel
Richard S. Prather
Pocket Books
February 1969
Paperback
215 Pages

This paperback was supplied by Barry Ergang years ago for me to read and review. He has been hounding me every so often about it ever since. In conniving desperation, Barry enlisted the unwitting assistance of Patti Abbott who declared that Richard S. Prather would be the focus for FFB today. One could almost hear Barry’s gleeful laughter as he turned up the pressure.

Richard S. Prather and the Shell Scott series have been a frequent topic here with Barry and occasionally Patrick Ohl. Other reviews are Pattern For Panic, Case Of The Vanishing Beauty, Double In Trouble, Strip for Murder, and The Death Gods   as well as short stories in anthologies such as The Masters of Noir Volume 1, as well as Volume 4, and The Best From Manhunt.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

Live Free or Tri: A collection of three short mystery stories is exactly what it purports to be as the three short story mystery tales in this book are all good ones. At forty-five pages this very recent release is also a very fast read.

“Live Free Or Die” starts off the book where the 31 year old Jack comes to Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto, Canada. He is ostensibly there to help with their collection rates having been sent by the US Headquarters down in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After taking each staff member of the credit department out to lunch he finally gets to 21 year old Emmy. If you already know what probably soon happens you would be right. It is a classic tale of the bad man fooling around with the naive and far younger female employee. It is the aftermath where things go very differently than what one would normally expect in such a tale.

Thirty miles outside of Toronto and a world apart is the Holland Marsh. The rural area does not have grid locked traffic, high rise condos, or all the rest of the big city nonsense. It does have seven thousand acres of rich farm county that supports crops and a few locals. It also has the isolation relatively free of traffic to make learning the special skills of how to ride a bike in a triathlon.

For Carrie Anne Camack the swimming and running parts of the triathlon she can handle. Mastering the proper technique of the clipless pedal has been far more difficult. It isn’t very long till the event in July which is why she is out and about this early Sunday morning in the spring. She had a training plan and that did not include finding a body in “Murder In The Marsh.”

A triathlon also serves as the backdrop to the final story titled “The Cycopaths.” The Cycopath Triathlon Team is working the icy waters of Sunset Point Park in Colling Wood, Ontario near Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay. Half dozen swimmers went into the water for the 750 meter practice course, but not everyone came back out of the cold water alive.

These three fast reads in Live Free or Tri: A collection of three short mystery stories feature a lot of depth and plenty of mystery. The characters involved in the tales have plenty of backstory that skillfully comes into play as the story works forward in real time. Each mystery is complex with more than one small twist the result is a highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Live Free or Tri: A collection of three short mystery stories
Judy Penz Sheluk
http://www.judypenzsheluk.com
Self-Published
January 2016
ASIN: B01AMIV9Z4
E-Book (also available in print format)
45 Pages
$2.99

Material was recently made free to all on Amazon in e-book format where I picked it up to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

In a mystery series that started with The Last Call several years ago, Bill Travis has been known to get involved one way or another in some very strange situations. Often he gets into cases where one can almost hear the Twilight Zone theme music playing in the background. Such is the case here with the Ghost of the Karankawa.

Bill Travis handles money and Evanston Cooper is one of his clients. At least he was until he pulled most of the money awhile back. Now Evanston wants to pay Travis to go from Austin down to the small and isolated town of Anahuac and see Evanston’s sister, Catherine. She thinks a ghost is going around there murdering people. Anahuac is located on the north side of Galveston Bay and, because of the murdering ghost, his sister is threatening to leave town. Evanston is afraid she might come to Austin and he does not want her anywhere around him or any closer to Austin than she is now. To keep her down there he is willing to throw money at the problem by hiring Bill. All Bill Travis has to do for the money is drive down there and calm Evanston’s sister down.

After enlisting Bill’s wife, Julie, into the deal, Bill is forced to agree to do as Evanston asks. Before long and with the kids safely accounted for, Julie, Bill and their dog, Franklin, are taking a road trip south to Anahuac. After all, just because Bill has turned fifty and is contemplating what that means, it does not mean one should ignore a scream in the night, a mummified body, and one heck of a road trip without the kids.

Ghost of the Karankawa: A Bill Travis Mystery is the tenth book in this long running series. As such the characters of Bill Travis, and his wife, Julie as well as other regulars in the series were fleshed out long ago. The focus is on the mystery, Texas history and legends, and things that go bump in them night as they often are in this series. As one expects, author George Wier again strains reader suspension of disbelief at a couple of points, but the read is very well worth it.

The e-book also includes the entertaining short story The Woodsman as it plays a key role in the novel.

Ghost of the Karankawa: A Bill Travis Mystery
George Wier
http://www.billtravismysteries.com
Flagstone Books
November 2014
ASIN: B00PBF0ATK
E-Book (paperback available)
154 Pages
$3.99

Material to read and review was purchased last February by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016

This fast moving read contains three short stories set in the holiday season. Opening with “No Place To Spend Christmas” where coming through a window in the middle of the night is not the best way to get help. But, that is what he did as he had a definite reason. He needs her help and Alexis Reedy knows some folks to contact. This story was also in the 2009 anthology The Gift of Murder edited by John M. Floyd.

It is the night before Christmas Eve and Hannibal is exhausted as he has been up since 5 am when his day started in Baltimore. Finally back in Washington around midnight, he has taken a wrong turn or two and gone out of his normal way home.  More than a little annoyed and dead dog tired, his reflexes aren’t the best when the man staggers out into the street in front of his car. Hannibal misses him, but will see him again in “Mystery on Capital Street.”

It is supposed to be a quiet evening at home for Hannibal and Cindy. That was until the knock at his door in “A Mom Christmas.” A little girl by the name of Margarita is on the doorstep. Eight or nine years old she tells them that her Mom desperately needs Hannibal’s help and sent her to him. Good choice.

Hannibal Jones Mystery: Christmas Short Stories is fast moving and highly entertaining collection. The three stories here do little to detail the background of the Hannibal Jones character as that is the work of the early novels. Instead, the focus here is on the mysteries as well as the actions of some nefarious folks who don’t take seasonal breaks or believe in the concept of goodwill toward all mankind.

Hannibal Jones Mystery: Christmas Short Stories
Austin S. Camacho
http://www.ascamacho.com
Intrigue Publishing, LLC
http://www.intriguepublishing.com
November 2014
ASIN# B00QAT3GKQ
E-Book
37 Pages
$0.99

Material was picked up early last month to read and review by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016