Simon Swift (1)

BLACK SHADOWS takes place back in a time when dames was dames and men wore fedoras. Detectives talked tough, threw punches and pounded the pavement looking for clues, solving crimes because when a detective gets killed it's bad for business and bad for detectives everywhere.

So, it takes place in New York City, circa 1940.

Private dick (aka, detective) Errol Black, aka, Eezy, is sitting in his office when the lovely Claudia comes in and hires him to follow her no-good fiance, George Ferriby, who she thinks is stepping out on her. Why, that awful man! But wait! Then, there's a redhead, and her name is Marlow. Hmm ... sound familiar? Anyhow, Marlow says she's Claudia's sister -- well, not really her blood sister, but her best friend in the whole world.

So ... whilst this is going on there are these other guys doing stuff. (BTW, do you like that word? Whilst? Because you're going to see it a lot. :)) In fact, there's a fat man known as the Coward. Or the Portly Gangster. Maybe. He has a kid with a gun working for him. And it seems a dame is associated with them. I won't say who. Does this sound at all familiar? They want to meet Black up in Woodstock. And hold a concert? Of course not. They want to find something. And it's not the Maltese Falcon, believe it or not.

And somehow this all relates to the murder of Dyke Spanner, Black's former partner at The Shadow Man Detective Agency which died with Terry Shadow (accidentally) in a Mob hit on Arthur Flegenheimer five years before.

Plus the Tong, aka, the Chinese mafia, are all mixed up in this, too.

Oh, did I mention the plot is a bit complex? Maybe you've already sussed that out.

Suffice it to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

To read the entire review, see: http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2011/05/hardboiled-detective-is-on-case-in.html… (mer)

Black Shadows by Simon Swift is a very enjoyable noir. Swift seems to have captured all the elements that make up the classic detective noirs. From the first page I was drawn into the mystery and intrigue that Black Shadows offered. This story is told from the perspective of Errol Black. Errol is a private eye, a detective with a not so clean background. Errol takes on the case of the beautiful and alluring damsel in distress, Claudia. He gets more than he bargains for when he investigates her fiancée. Errol gets mixed up in a world-wind of problems including getting involved with well known gangsters and being suspected of murdering his former partner, Dyke Spanner. Errol is a flawed, tough, cynical type of guy. He has a soft spot for the sweet and innocent and a weakness for the femme fatals. Errol doesn't know who to trust. Practically everyone he knows has some sort of motive why they wanted Spanner dead and why they want the priceless blue Tavernier Diamond. The closer Errol gets to finding the killer the more dead bodies start to pile up. This story is full of red herrings that keep you captivated.
With so many motives and opportunities for murder it was hard to eliminate any of the suspects. The characters are shady with motivations of greed and lust. I found it interesting that one of the characters is based on the real life gangster, Dutch Schultz This book had such a vintage feel to it. Simon Swift did a great job sorting out the details of this time period to make it as authentic as possible. I absolutely loved the 1940's New York setting. This book had everything I had expected to find in a noir and more. The story is very entertaining and definitely worth reading. Black Shadows is the first book in the Errol Black trilogy.… (mer)