Review: Incredible Parody, Wonderful Writing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2012
Undressed to Kill The Investigations of Ralphy David Andrew McGlone I almost died laughing reading Undressed to Kill. This is a collection of stories from the files  of the High Brow Detective Agency owned by a private eye named Ralphy. Parodying the great hard boiled investigators like Sam Spade from the Maltese Falcon, Ralphy is equipped with the two room office, the gorgeous secretary, a nose for trouble and a distinct like of a good drink. Unfortunately, Ralphy couldn't  investigate his way out of a paper bag without the help of his motley crew of contacts like his secretary, Rachel, his old lawyer friend, Johnny `the hawk' Mason, Sgt. Kelly. As he faces down criminals like  Little Bo Peep, mob boss Mario Lucerne, the Martegna boys, Ralphy muses about Kierkegaard and Sartre and is usually totally oblivious of the crimes, deals and machinations that are going on around him. Ralphy is usually drunk, being beaten up, getting laid by a femme fatal or recovering from a bender but how could we help but love this noir detective who can synopsize War and Punishment on the same page that he skewers  or screws up Shakespeare right before his trial in front of Justice Dezerts. McGlone is an absolutely brilliant writer though he does have a little problem with punctuation. Lots of people can edit but this type of amazing parody is rare and thrilling to encounter.