"One Night in 1965," by Stacy Woodson, in More Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties,, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books, 2023.
This is the second appearance by Woodson in my column.
The night in question is August 26, the last opportunity for young men to avoid the draft by getting married.
Jack Taylor is a private eye in Las Vegas. He is also a Korean War veteran who doesn't appreciate men who are trying to dodge Vietnam.
He is hired by a U.S. senator from Nevada whose son has gone missing. The senator fears that he is about to make a hasty marriage to avoid induction into the army which is scheduled for the next day. The truth turns out to be more complicated.
One problem with writing historical fiction - especially when history is recent enough for readers to remember the time - is the danger of anachronisms. Did anyone refer to men's abdomens as six-packs in 1965? And definitely nobody was using the term Ms.
But that's nitpicking. This is an interesting story that takes a different approach to the private eye story.
Please keep on with your nitpicking. Writers today have gotten so careless. It's not just about the story if some small avoidable thing pulls you out of the story.
ReplyDelete