Uncle Brick and the Four Novelettes
by Allan Leverone
What do you get when you combine a failed accountant from L.A. with an eighty year old Boston P.I.?
You get “Uncle Brick and the Four Novelettes,” the irreverent mystery series featuring wise-cracking Brick Callahan and his forty-two year old nephew, recently divorced and back in Boston after a decade on the west coast.
The first story, “Uncle Brick and Jimmy Kills,” was named a finalist by the Short Mystery Fiction Society for a 2010 Derringer Award. In it, the unnamed narrator returns to Boston after the breakup of his marriage, intent on teaming up with his uncle to solve the murder of his father. Along the way, they encounter a crooked accountant, a ruthless mob boss, and a beautiful, grieving widow.
In Story Two, “Uncle Brick and the Little Devilz,” the Callahans investigate the supposed suicide of a newly retired realtor in an investigation that takes them through a strip club employing underage dancers, by way of a homicidal bouncer.
Story Three is titled “Uncle Brick and the L.A. Ex.” In this adventure, the team flies out to Los Angeles to investigate the disappearance of the new boyfriend of our unnamed narrator’s wife. The trail runs through LAX, Hollywood Park and Westwood, with an ending you’ll never see coming.
In the fourth story of the series, “Uncle Brick and the Boulevard of Broken Bones,” a night out at a local steakhouse for the pair leads to a horrifying car wreck, a cryptic message from a passerby, and a mystery straight out of an old Callahan Investigations case.
(This is a sponsored post.)