Chicago Typewriter

As Detective Drew Lucy typed up the report on the Waterton case the pretty ankle slipped into his line of sight. It was shaped like trouble.

The chief's sixteen-year-old daughter Millie was worried about her brother, Ike, who had started to disappear some nights. The chief could fire Drew for messing with family business, but Drew reluctantly agrees to tail Ike. The trail leads to a speakeasy and the mushrooming business of organized crime during Prohibition in Chicago.

Clues from the Ebony Gardens murder point to the same gang, but the gangsters can smell Drew coming, and bullets are cheap.

By the time Drew enters the seductive orbit of a mink-eyed vixen addicted to risk, he's in over his head. If he isn't shot full of daylight by gangster tommy guns, he'll drown in Bianca's perfumed embrace.

It's enough to make a gumshoe readjust his fedora.

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This noir flavored detective yarn is set 100 years back in time. It's a bit grittier than my usual breezy output. This story is basically clean and I did not flag it as mature. However, darker human failings (alcohol use, sexual desire, and violence) drive the plot. I don't dwell on those aspects, but it's definitely a story for grownups. The intended audience is new adult or adult.

Winner! 2022 Amby Awards, Mystery and Thriller category.
Winner! 3rd place in the Ballsy Tea Awards 2022, Action and Adventure category.