or works published in 2020. (The lists below are in alphabetical order by author.)
Best Original Private Eye Paperback
Farewell Las Vegas by Grant Bywaters / Wild Rose Press
All Kinds of Ugly by Ralph Dennis / Brash Books
Brittle Karma by Richard Helms / Black Arch Books
Remember My Face by John Lantigua / Arte Publico
Damaged Goods by Debbi Mack / Renegade Press
Best Private Eye Short Story
“A Dreamboat Gambol” by O’Neil De Noux in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“Mustang Sally” by John M. Floyd in Black Cat Mystery Magazine
“Setting the Pick” by April Kelly in Mystery Weekly Magazine
“Show and Zeller” by Gordon Linnzer in Black Cat Mystery Magazine
“Nashua River Floater” by Tom MacDonald in Coast to Coast Noir
Best Private Eye Novel
What You Don’t See by Tracy Clark / Kensington
Do No Harm by Max Allan Collins / Tor Forge
Blind Vigil by Matt Coyle / Oceanview
House on Fire by Joseph Finder / Dutton
And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall / Tor Forge
Best First Private Eye Novel
Squatter’s Rights by Kevin R. Doyle / Camel Press
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa / Epicenter Press
I Know Where You Sleep by Alan Orloff / Down & Out Books
The Missing American by Kwei Quartey / Soho
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden / Ecco
MICHAEL ST. KILLIAN, PRIVATE EYE
In St. Killian’s Choice, private investigator Michael St. Killian has returned to the Ramstein Air Base area in Germany where he served in the Air Force as an investigator with the Office of Special Investigations.
Now retired from the Air Force, why would he return to a military base to start his civilian life as a private investigator with such a limited client pool? In St. Killian’s words, he’s drawn to the international intrigue.
And that client pool isn’t so limited after all. You may have seen the drawdowns of the American military presence in Germany on the news. Generally, the news clips show troops in BDUs with an array of military vehicles, or airmen unloading pallets from airplanes. What you don’t see are the support personnel behind them, and the family members with them all.
No entity takes care of its basic needs like the US military, and so Ramstein AB, quite apart from the military mission of supporting NATO and pushing back against Russia and other entities, provides all the necessities of home. Basically a small city unto itself, the commissary is the grocery store, the Base Exchange is a combination of department store and Walmart with a variety of price points.
There are Department of Defense schools, which I can personally vouch for as an Army brat as well as a parent, and movie theaters, American university satellite campuses, medical and dental facilities. There are Recreation Centers with pool and ping-pong tables, gyms for basketball and weightlifting, swimming pools, golf courses, Officers’ clubs, NCO clubs, snack bars, the Stars and Stripes bookstore, and libraries.
Little America, with the allure of a European setting, a day’s drive away from Paris, Rome, Vienna, Italy, Brussels. Truly a place to broaden your horizons. In an American community overseas, the stakes are higher. Every job St. Killian takes has the potential to be an international incident.
According to a recent report in Stars and Stripes, the Department of Defense authorized news outlet for the American military, 24,000 Americans live in the Kaiserslautern area, where Ramstein Air Base is located. They are active duty Air Force and Army, DoD civilians, contractors, veterans, and their husbands, wives and children. Lots of scope for mischief.
24,000 people who all shop at the same commissary, visit the same library, drink at the same Officer’s Club or NCO Club, work out at the same base gym. Day after day. Seeing the same faces. Smelling the same perfume. Coveting their neighbor’s wife. Knowing when spouses have deployed. Theft. Blackmail. Terrorist threats. Spies.
What could possibly go wrong?
***
Check out St. Killian’s Choice in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #8
Connect with M. A. Monnin at www.mamonnin.com, Facebook, and Twitter
