Deets Shanahan
Created by Ronald Tierney (1944 --)

DIETRICH "DEETS" SHANAHAN is a semi-retired Indianapolis gumshoe within spitting distance of seventy, with a penchant for J.W. Dant bourbon, the Chicago Cubs, Delaney's Bar and horticulture. He lives in a small house with a rude overgrown mutt named Casey and a cat called Einstein, and spends most of his time growing flowers. When we first meet Deets, he's well on his way to lonesome, a career army man (he rose to the rank of sergeant in Army Intelligance) who never really got the hang of civilian life, and is less than shy about expressing his opinions about the world.

He's estranged from his ex-wife (she split over thirty years ago) and his middle-aged son. He's supplementing his old age security and Army pension with a few odd detective jobs. But there's life in the old dog yet.

But judging by the way he handles himself in The Stone Veil, which won the St. Martin's Best First Private Eye Novel Contest for 1990, he's not quite ready to go gentle into that good night. He may be an old crank, but he can also be quite the charmer. He becomes involved with Maureen, twenty-five years younger, and working in a massage parlour.

Oh, Deets, you dog, you.

And even better is that, despite the the naysayers who claim nobody wants to read about "old" people, Tierney has continued the series, following Deets well into his seventies. In fact, Tierney has recently started another series, featuring odd couple San Francisco gumshoes Carly Paladino and Noah Lang.

NOVELS

• The Stone Veil (1990) . Buy this book..Kindle it! .. Nook it!
• The Steel Web (1991) . Buy this book..Kindle it!. Nook it!
• The Iron Glove (1992) . Buy this book..Kindle it!.. Nook it!
• The Concrete Pillow (1995) . Buy this book..Kindle it! . Nook it!
• Nickel Plated Soul (2005) . Buy this book.
• Platinum Canary (2005) . Buy this book.
• Nickel Plated Soul (2005) . Buy this book.
• Glass Chameleon (2006) . Buy this book.
• Asphalt Moon (2007) .. Buy this book
• Bloody Palms (2008) .. Buy this book
• Bullet Beach (2010)..Buy this book..Kindle it!.. Nook it!

RELATED LINKS

• Life, Death and Fog
  A great blog, particularly when Tierney suggests weekly crime film double features, and the drinks to match.