"The Turkey Hill Affair," by Warren Bull, in Murder Manhattan Style, Untreed Reads, 2012.
Warren Bull was kind enough to send me a proof of
his new e-book. Most of the stories are historical mysteries, and most are set in either Manhattan, New York, or Manhattan, Kansas. Quite a difference between those two locations, huh?
Being a contrary sort, I suppose, my favorite is set in Iowa, although it is a sequel to one of the stories set in New York. Roxie was a showgirl there who fled to Turkey Hill, Iowa with new sweetheart Bob, because her old boyfriend Frank was a mobster who "took advantage of my loving nature and snapped some photos of me loving some well-known people."
By the time this story starts Roxie and Bob have split up and she is astonished to discover an old friend named Bennie trying to rob a bank in Turkey Hill. He's not very good at it but with her help - who ever heard of a hostage picking up the robber's gun for him? - he manages to escape.
After that she has a somewhat revealing discussion with the sheriff, who turns out to be a bit of a surprise for post-war Iowa, and she solves a crime worse than bank robbery. A very amusing tale.
I should add that the best
idea for a story in the book was "Heidegger's Cat," but I thought it needed another round of editing.
