Burleigh Drummond
Created by Kent Westmoreland

The local New Orleans aristocracy calls BURLEIGH DRUMMOND whenever their lawyers can't help them. No choir boy, he, the twenty-something fixer uses his private investigator's license to throw a quasi-legal blanket of legal confidentiality over some of his more dubious actions. Drummond has no need for a gun because he solves his cases with charm, aplomb and occasionally blackmail and bribery.

Drummond has appeared in three short stories, so far. But one of them, "A Relatively Small Sum of Money," was selected by Otto Penzler as one the best fifty American mystery stories published in 1999, and another, "Part of the Plan", placed second in the Writer's Digest 1999 Writing Competition Genre Category.

Drummond's creator, Kent Westmoreland, claims he "drifted into New Orleans several years ago and immediately immersed himself in the dark underbelly of the city". He cites his observations and experiences in that milieu as the inspiration for his stories. Kent lives in uptown New Orleans with his wife, Leslie. The first Drummond novel, Baronne Street, is due to appear in April 2001, courtesy of the folks from Blue Murder Press.

SHORT STORIES

• "A Relatively Small Sum of Money" (July 1999, Blue Murder Magazine)
• "Part of the Plan" (October 1999, Blue Murder Magazine)
• "Ash Wednesday" (April 2001, Thrilling Detective Web Site)

NOVELS

• Baronne Street (2001)

Thanks to Kent Westmoreland, one of whose credos is "There's no promotion like self-promotion," for the heads-up.