Too Soon Dead (Alexander Brass Series #1)

by Michael Kurland

Overview

March 1935: The Great Depression is at its peak and Prohibition has been recently repealed. For millions of people across the country, syndicated columnist and sophisticate Alexander Brass is the voice of Manhattan high society and nightlife. When a mysterious man tries to interest Brass in photos of prominent people engaged in questionable acts, she investigates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594752493
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	11/17/2015
Series:	Alexander Brass Series , #1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.16(w) x 8.01(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL KURLAND is the author of more than thirty novels, but is best known for his Edgar-nominated mystery series featuring Professor Moriarty, including The Infernal Device and The Great Game. He has also edited several Sherlock Holmes anthologies and written non-fiction titles such as How to Solve a Murder: the Forensic Handbook. He lives in Petaluma, California.

Editorial Reviews

Beware of strangers bearing stacks of scandalously revealing photos they want to leave with you, even if they look really juicy—the oblivious principals include a US senator, a superior court judge, and a saintly philanthropist—and even if digging dirt is all in a day's work for you. Syndicated columnist Alexander Brass, based at the New York World, agrees to hold on to a sheaf of photos for his coyly unidentified informant, and the next thing you know, somebody's been murdered (and it's not the informant). His dander up—it's 1935, and Brass is the well- spoken sort of gent who might use a phrase like that—Brass conscripts recently widowed Cathy Fox, who's not exactly grief- stricken, to join his legman and amanuensis Morgan DeWitt in tracking down the photographer who snapped the poisonous pictures. In no time at all, the pair is knee-deep in a wash of blackmailing Nazis, preposterously unmotivated revelations, and gratuitous cameos (Lindbergh, Earhart, W.C. Fields). Sci- fi/suspense/nonfictioner Kurland (Star Griffin, 1987, etc.; How to Solve a Murder: the Forensic Handbook, not reviewed), aiming throughout for a puckish retro effervescence—think of Fred Astaire playing Archie Goodwin—ends up with a weightless jollity in which nothing (bereavement, mutilation, love at first sight with an obliging nymphomaniac) matters any more to you than to the resolutely dapper heroes.

Clueless in every sense of the word.

Kirkus Reviews

12/07/2015
This strong series launch from Kurland (Who Thinks Evil), set in New York City in 1935, introduces a winning pair of sleuths: gossip columnist Alexander Brass and his sidekick, aspiring novelist Morgan DeWitt. A fat man who won't identify himself appears at Brass's Manhattan office and leaves an envelope to be opened by Brass only. When Brass opens it, he finds a series of photographs of prominent people in compromising positions, including a U.S. senator, a state judge, a philanthropist, and a department store magnate. When Brass dispatches reporter Billy Fox to tail the anonymous deliveryman, Billy winds up with his throat cut. Holding himself responsible, Brass sets about to solve the killing, aided by Billy's widow and DeWitt. While the very mobile and social Brass is not an obvious stand-in for Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, his way of speaking, his selectively straightforward dealings with the police, and his rapport with DeWitt bear some resemblances to Stout's reclusive genius and bode well for future installments. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

A terrific masterstroke of period detective fiction” - Pop Kernal 

"Aspiring novelist Morgan DeWitt. A fat man who won’t identify himself appears at Brass’s Manhattan office and leaves an envelope to be opened by Brass only. When Brass opens it, he finds a series of photographs of prominent people in compromising positions, including a U.S. senator, a state judge, a philanthropist, and a department store magnate. When Brass dispatches reporter Billy Fox to tail the anonymous deliveryman, Billy winds up with his throat cut. Holding himself responsible, Brass sets about to solve the killing, aided by Billy’s widow and DeWitt. While the very mobile and social Brass is not an obvious stand-in for Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe, his way of speaking, his selectively straightforward dealings with the police, and his rapport with DeWitt bear some resemblances to Stout’s reclusive genius and bode well for future series entries." - Publisher's Weekly  

"From the first sentence to the final wrap-up this one is a real winner. Don’t miss it." - Noir Journal

“Channeling the sort of fast-talking quippy urban mystery style of Rex Stout and Ellery Queen circa the late 1940s” - Comic Book Resources

More than the majority of the story was largely enjoyable, and I was very glad to have had the opportunity to read it. - Cemetery Dance Publishers

From the Publisher