I know this list is supposed to be more concerned with books
than other
media, but what I wanted to mention ...comment on...whatever,
is last
night's episode of HOMICIDE on television, and the return of
disgraced cop
Mike Kellerman as a private eye. What a treat for long-time
viewers! Did
anyone else think this was just about the best
made-for-television P.I.
thing in years? (And certainly one of the highlights of this
admittedly
uneven season?) Even VENGEANCE UNLIMITED and BUDDY FARO, both
of which I
enjoy, always seem terribly self-concious, and very aware
(too aware) of
the P.I. genre's traditions, yet HOMICIDE managed to make the
hoary old
chestnut of an ex-cop turned private eye into something
fresh, by having
made Kellerman a real character first, and a private eye
second. It's a
two-parter, a nasty case of the murder of a baby, and
Kellerman keeps
running into his old co-workers. This is primal stuff. Fear,
guilt,
betrayal, hate, shame. The big conclusion is next week. Did
anyone else see
this one?
DEJA DEAD
In a better world, NBC would spin off Kellerman into his own
show, or at
least a TV flick. Of course, in real life, they'd probably
saddle him with
a wiseass kid and a talking horse....
By the way, I agree with Mari. Deja Dead bites the big one,
and as a
Montrealer, I really wanted to like it. Fortunately, it's far
from
hardboiled, so we don't have to waste any more time bashing
it, as
enjoyable as that might be...
DENNIS LEHANE
And I'm currently making my way through Dennis LeHane's
series of big,
popular Tinkertoy P.I. novels, hoping all the parts he keeps
adding finally
connect. There's definitely something going on here, but what
it is ain't
perfectly clear....anyone have any thoughts on this
series?
**************************************************
Kevin Smith
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
This month: New fiction by Burl Barer and Kim Sellers,
and a look at the 1998 Private Eye scene in our P.I.
Poll.
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