Ralph McInerny, Slattery

Slattery

Ralph McInerny

Five Star, Jun 2004, $25.95

ISBN: 141040188X

"Slattery Will Get You Nowhere". Streeter hires private investigator Slattery to rescue his kidnapped daughter Lois, held against her will. Streeter's partner wants to hire Slattery to not find Lois. As he investigates whether Lois is held against her will, murder occurs with the cops suspecting Slattery as the killer.

"Slattery Not Included". Badly needing work, Slattery turns to morgue chasing. He attends the funeral of Michael Whelan and gives his card to the victim's widow Meg offering to learn the truth about her spouse's death. Meg hires Slattery who tries to uncover the identity of the killer. While bumbling through his investigation, new partner Gwen Probst begins solving the case.

"The Sincerest Form of Slattery". Stripper Dagmar West wants to hire Slattery to protect her from her manager Joe Derringer, who she insists will kill her. However, everything goes wrong as is the norm for Slattery and the cops think he committed homicide with only Gwen to prove otherwise.

"Slattery Winner". The client Walter Benjamin calls Slattery to hire him to keep his lottery ticket safe. When he arrives at the office, Walter falls to the floor with a knife in his back. The cops wonder if Slattery finally killed someone with once again Gwen trying to prove otherwise.

SLATTERY is a tongue in cheek private investigative anthology starring the recognized world's worse sleuth. The tales are all fun as Slattery goes from investigator to prime suspect rather quickly and typically hired because of his incompetence. Though his chauvinism towards Probst makes him look petty, fans will wants more Slattery in the future, but with a growing fondness for his clearly better half.

Harriet Klausner