Mac (Dewey)

In his second adventure, Mac is hired to tail a mother and her two kids on the train from Chicago to Los Angeles. All is going well until he is thrown off of the train - while it's moving at high speed!

"Thomas B. Dewey is one of detective fiction's severely underrated writers!" - Bill Pronzini "Gripping, realistic, and compelling." - Chicago Sunday Tribune It started with murder and ended with murder. Along the way there were muggings and dope and stolen cars and other assorted violence's that might have been committed by juveniles. But this wasn't kid stuff. It became apparent that someone very ruthless was behind it all. That's when they decided to hire Mac. "Mac has been called one of the most believable and humane PI's in crime fiction. He is reluctant to use either his gun or his fists, but will do so when the situation demands it, or in self-defense; he doesn't merely solve his clients' cases, but provides moral support and sympathy as well; and perhaps most notable of all, Mac feels, and is not afraid to show itópain, loss, sorrow, loneliness." -thrillingdetective.com

P.I.s are not easily surprised, but Mac was surprised. The girl was too lovely, the price she was willing to pay too high, and her story didn't ring true. But she was badly frightened, so Mac, ever the gentleman, agreed to take the case.

Mac didn't like bodyguard jobs. But he disliked kidnappers even more. So when Julian Porter, big shot movie producer, said, "Come to Hollywood, take care of my kid," Mac left Chicago and went to Hollywood. Julie'd had a threatening letter about his daughter, Linda, age five. The note said, "We're going to grab her unless..." and then there was the usual talk of big money. So Mac set up 24-hour protection. He made it his business to find out about the people in Porter's household. He talked to the producer's young wife, who made a habit of swimming in the nude. He talked even more to Bernie Wolf, Julian's "Man Friday", who seemed to spend a great deal of time with Julian's wife Carol. And he met Julian's ex-wife, Linda's mother, who had begun to regret the divorce settlement and was hanging around Linda in a suspicious way. They all got on with Mac, but not with Julian Porter. In fact, Mac decided practically everyone around Julian had a reason to hate him and to want a piece of his talent and his money. And Linda was their biggest opportunity to cash in... "Mac is one of our best private eyes." - San Francisco Chronicle "Thomas B. Dewey is one of detective fiction's severely underrated writers!" - Bill Pronzini "Mac has been called one of the most believable and humane PI's in crime fiction. He is reluctant to use either his gun or his fists, but will do so when the situation demands it, or in self-defense; he doesn't merely solve his clients' cases, but provides moral support and sympathy as well; and perhaps most notable of all, Mac feels, and is not afraid to show itópain, loss, sorrow, loneliness." -thrillingdetective.com

The girl had lost her guitar-playing boyfriend, but he had left her the most deadly legacy of all - fear. And now it was up to me to protect her from the gun-carrying thugs who were relentlessly tracking her down. Hoodlums, hootenannies, and homicide! #10 in the Mac detective series!

A slightly shady congressman... His sulky 18-year-old daughter... A dead bodyguard... And blackmail! It's all in a day's work for Mac, the Chicago detective. Another classic entry in the detective series that could have been ripped from today's headlines - but written in 1964. #11 in the classic series.

When Mac, renowned Chicago private eye, took on his newest case, it looked like he was going to earn an easy ten grand fee. His assignment was to deliver one million dollars in cool cash to the daughter of his client, notorious ex-gangster Marco Paul, upon the man's eventual death. However, Mac's client was a cold corpse before he had a chance to tell Mac where the money was stashed. From then on, his life wasn't worth two cents. Someone thought Mac knew the whereabouts of the cash, and decided to use some strongarm tactics to get it out of him. Mac had to pin down both the killer and the money fast, now that his days were numbered - for someone wanted him very, very dead...

When Mac tries to help a friend collect an unpaid bill, he gets more than he bargained for...including a corpse! #15 in the Mac detective series.

#17 in the Mac detective series. Chicago detective "Mac" is asked by a former silent film star to find out what the problem is facing a fellow actor who shares her home.

Sam Brokaw was a crook and a heel. He had a big job planned as soon as he got out of jail. But he didn't count on his jilted girlfriend, who wanted him put away for life - or Mac. This short story is counted as #18 in the Mac detective series.