When 1950's noir private eye, Axel Hatchett, is hired by a delectable redhead to turn up her long-missing husband, Hatchett discovers that the man is not only still alive, but is armed, probably crazy, and is on a killing spree that may include Axe! Not a very humorous situation! But something stinks about this cozy little case of faux death, and it's not the detective's pet skunk, Ambrosia, or the comely redhead's perfume. Crime is in the air, the bullets start flying, and there's a dead man on the prowl. __________ Here's what 1950's noir detective Axel Hatchett has to say about DEAD MAN LIMPING, the first in the series of humorous murder mystery novels he stars in: "I should know better than to let dames hire me. Especially when they look like Rita Ravencamp. Kentucky-Derby-winner legs, enough flaming red hair to upholster Rapunzel, and a face that made the average angel look like a spinster fish monger with smallpox. But it wasn't just her looks that hooked me, it was her money. I was starving as a private eye. It'd been so long since I'd eaten that I wasn't sure if I remembered which end of a fork to use. "Rita had a missing person's case for me to solve. Quite the mystery. Two years earlier, her husband, Roscoe, mistakenly drove his big Packard into a river. His body was never found. My guess was that he'd managed to get out of the car, but had drowned and been sucked into some underwater cave. But his presumed widow, the divinely emerald-eyed Rita, was now claiming that her husband was alive. She even had pictures - taken recently - to prove it. "The redhead wanted me to track down her wayward husband and bring about a happy reunion. She'd gone to the cops, but they weren't buying her story. I didn't believe it either, but when she gave me her come-hither-and-make-it-quick glance, and opened her purse to give me a glimpse of a stack of folding green men, I couldn't resist. I was hers for the long haul. I wanted to cozy up to this case, or more accurately - her. "I snooped around for Rita, but the more rocks I turned over, the more I became convinced that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. I don't like being treated like Pinocchio. To hell with kindly old Gepetto. I even began to wonder if my own miserable hide was in danger, a thought I didn't find very humorous. I didn't want to be anybody's next crime victim. But I kept spending Rita's money and digging deeper into the case. "It took all my best detective tricks to finally gather up the ugly pieces of the puzzle. And when I finally figured things out, I realized that a murder was about to take place. I just hoped I had enough time to keep it from happening." Thanks, Axe! Keep your peepers open!
About the Author: Steven LeRoy Nelson is an award-winning humorist whose short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Leviathan, Fire and Ice, and numerous other publications. He lives in Colorado and, when not researching poisons and polishing his skull collection, is working on his 10th novel. Visit him at his website at: www.stevenleroynelson.com