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First Cases - Edited by Robert J. Randisi

© Janet Kay Blaylock

This is a review of three short stories that I read in the book, "First Cases" edited by Robert J. Randisi. The subtitle of this book is "The Early Years of Famous Detectives." This is Volume Four of the series. The first two books are out of print. Volume Three is still available from the publisher. In the Introduction, the author wrote that if people are interested in these kinds of books, they should write to the publisher asking for more volumes to be printed. I just happened to have Volume One and have ordered Volume Three. The author would put together more volumes if readers requested that he do it.

The first story I read is titled, "The Night I Died" by Mickey Spillane. The main character in the story is Mike Hammer. This was a pretty good story. It was a little confusing. I really didn't catch the main plot of the story when I first read it. A second time through, I know will help. Some stories are like that for me. The other main character is Helen. Mike likes Helen a lot. However, their relationship has a major problem. Now, you'll have to read it to find out what it was and what happened.

The second story is "Now's The Time" by John Harvey. The main character in this story is Charlie Resnick. This was the very first story where Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick appeared. This was also an interesting story. However, the story contained a lot of profanity, which was offensive to me. I prefer clean stories. The main theme of all of the stories where Charlie Resnick appears is jazz.

The last story I read is "Circus" by Edward D. Hoch. This story was easier to understand. I enjoyed it a little more than the other two. Edward D. Hoch is famous for his main character, Nick Velvet, the burglar who can steal almost anything. However, the main character in this story is Captain Leopold. He is investigating a murder case. A ten-year-old boy named Tommy is found strangled to death in a vacant lot among some trees. Captain Leopold has been with homicide for eight years and still has trouble dealing with death, especially of young children. The other detective is Mat Slater. He is a tough cop. Captain Leopold isn't too fond of him. However, they try to work together on the case. The boy was on his way to the circus, but was caught and killed. Now, you'll have to read the story to find out who killed the boy and why. What possible motive could someone have to kill a young boy? Was it for revenge? Money? What?

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