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Nate Heller is a sleuth you should meet. If you've already met this series character, who appears in many of the 20th century's most intriguing mysteries (the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Black Dahlia murder, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart), you're in luck. Here's Nate, doing what he does best. Nate Heller is a tough-guy private eye who gets around. He is not a role model; he became a cop, he admits, to see how well he could get rich on graft. He hangs out at times with Chicago's mobsters, who respect him and he sleeps with clients. In fact, one thing this collection brought home was that Nate Heller has throughout his very long career, slept with just about every attractive (and not necessarily available) woman he meets. What is it about private eyes? So many of them seem irresistible. As usual, Crippen & Landru, who publish stylish and well-done short story collections, have put out a fine book. The lead story, really a novella, is new to readers. I'm not someone who has ever understood the Marilyn Monroe thing, but I know I'm in a minority. Still, "Kisses of Death" is way more than just a story about Monroe. One strong plus in any Heller tale is the amount of research that Collins and his researchers, whom he always credits provide in telling a tale.Ý Stories in this collection feature actress Thelma Todd (whose mysterious death was never exactly solved, although the suspect was pretty obvious), who hires Heller for protection, which he can't provide in the long run, and Maxwell Bodenheim, Heller's long-time buddy Eliot Ness and Bill Veeck, president of the Chicago White Sox. Heller is in Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and the tales cover a long period in Heller's career. These are historical mysteries, but more to the point, to borrow the phrase directly from Collins, they are "period" private eye stories; and don't ask me the difference, but they are. The times are portrayed vividly. Nate Heller mingles with the classy dames and the dregs of society, able to fit in with all kinds of folks. He comes across like the real thing; no knight in armor, but a savvy guy who watches his step and is seldom fooled. He's loyal to his friends and a very dangerous enemy (just read "The Perfect Crime" and see if I'm not right.) As always, the annotated bibliography is a great help to fans. I do think there was room for more than seven stories in this collection, but what there is, is choice. -- http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Sherloc kian, Wodehousian & more
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, August 2002
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