Darrow Nash
Created by C.J. Harper (pseudonym of Charlie Rethwisch)

Imagine a world-weary P.I. working 1940s Los Angeles out of a tiny rundown office in the Cahuenga Building on Hollywood Boulevard.

And now imagine it's NOT Philip Marlowe.

That's the big concept/conceit behind C.J. Harper's DARROW NASH series of short stories. And just to rub it in, he and Marlowe occasionally talk shop.

The stories themselves aren't bad -- Harper has a definite feel for this type of story -- but the overall cuteness makes me squirm.

And try as he might, Nash is not Marlowe; and Harper's not Chandler.

SHORT STORIES

• "The Coronation Coin" (February 2008", EQMM)
• "The Sleepless Soul" (March-April, EQMM)

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.