Eliot Cross is a private detective in Columbus, Ohio, in this collection of linked novelettes set in 1988. This is first-person private eye fiction in the classic mode, and done very well, too. The cases Cross takes on involve a burglar trap turned deadly, a politician's missing relative, kidnapping, and of course murder. My favorite story in the book centers around a comic book convention and features a dying message much like the ones that crop up in Ellery Queen yarns.
John Hegenberger's writing reminds me quite a bit of Robert Bloch's. There's the same sense of playfulness, tempered by some underlying themes that are pretty dark. CROSS EXAMINATIONS: CRIME IN COLUMBUS is a very entertaining book, and I'm glad to know that Eliot Cross will be having more adventures in the future. I'm looking forward to reading them.
2 comments:
I like reading first-person detective stories and the mysteries do sound interesting.
Hegenberger knows his stuff!
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