Bye Bye, Baby

This is the book I was waiting all summer for. I even put down my other reading that more than likely has a long waitlist at the library so I could power through this one. Max Allan Collins is one of my four most favorite authors on the planet and the one from whom I have the most autographs despite having never met. Mr. Collins regularly stops at a mystery bookseller near my parents and if I ask nicely they will get an autographed copy for me. Aren't my parents great?

BYE BYE, BABY is the latest in Collins' Nathan Heller historical mystery series. I think this is the third longest series I've stuck with. (I've been reading Wild Cards and Kinsey Milhone longer) Heller is a private detective who seems to be in the wrong place at the right time. He saw Chicago Mayor Cermak assassinated, worked the Lindbergh kidnapping, and solved the Black Dahlia murder. He rubbed shoulders with mobsters and movie stars and could have made a living as a plumber with all the pipe he's laid. The novels have moved steadily through history from the 30s to the 60s. The last novel CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL is the only 50s installment and this one brings us into 1962 and the death of Marylin Monroe.

Heller is hired to do another job for Monroe (the first documented in the short Kisses of Death). As a result he gets entwined into her final days and decides to figure out who killed her. Collins' grasp of history and his effortless style make for great reading. For those who need to catch up with Heller's history, all of the books will be back in print this autumn. I may have to get a couple to make up for the holes I haven't been able to fill. Also this fall another in the revitalized Quarry series will be published by the similarly revitalized Hard Case Crimes books and the graphic novel sequel to the truly awesome ROAD TO PERDITION will be released. I cannot wait.