Murder Is My Business
Gathered loosely in a guns-for-hire theme, the 17 stories here are generally good, mostly new and include a few surprises. John Lutz is funnier than usual, telling of a sad sack investigator who thinks he's being paid $50 to push a pizza in a guy's face for a laugh. He's wrong about the job, the pay and the reaction of an organized crime lord hit with anchovies and mozzarella. Joe Hannibal, Wayne Dundee's underrated series shamus, intercedes when a long-legged beauty is pursued by goons in a cab and then discovers that she is suspiciously competent at dealing with the thugs. Lawrence Block's story draws laughs with a hit man who arrives in town, fixated on a bad western paperback and strangely unwilling to kill his target. Closing the collection is a short, seldom-seen, unrepentant Spillane novella, Everybody's Watching Me, featuring a good dame in a tight spot, the kid she befriends and the warring hoods the unlucky twosome find themselves caught between. Other contributors include Andrew Greeley, Carolyn Wheat and Ed Gorman.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.