Dave Zeltserman's Blog, page 37

What motivates Julius Katz to solve his cases?

Many readers think at first that Julius Katz is simply a pastiche of Nero Wolfe. Well, given Julius's name, as well as the name of his sidekick, and a few of Julius's personality traits, as well as his love of gourmet food and his overall laziness, I'll admit to a tip of a cap to one of favorite detective series and writers, but Katz is a very different animal than Wolfe. While Archie has the heart and soul of a hardboiled PI (even though he's only a tiny computer device), Julius shares more than a little DNA with my con man Pete Mitchel from my first Ellery Queen story, Money Run. Call them second cousins on Julius's father's side. So what motivates Julius to solve his murder cases?
In the Shamus and Derringer award-winning 'Julius Katz', Julius is hired by a woman whose mother has Alzheimer's. She's afraid that her brother, who has power of attorney over their mother, is more concerned with preserving her mother's money for a future inheritance than seeing that the woman is properly taken care of. When Julius's client is murdered, he solves the murderso that he can fulfill his initial obligations and earn his fee.
In the Ellery Queens Reader's Choice Award winner, 'Archie's Been Framed', Julius finds himself inconvenienced when Archie becomes the prime and only suspect for the murder of a woman he'd been dating, and so Julius reluctantly jumps in to clear his assistance's name and the inconvenience that Archie's fugitive status is causing him.
In the novel, 'Julius Katz and Archie', when Julius's client is murdered he feels no need to find the murderer since as far as he's concerned this is a police matter and he has no further obligations to his dead client. When an attempt is later made on Julius's life, nothing is going to keep him from being the one to send the murderer away.
In 'One Angry Julius and Eleven Befuddled Jurors', an increasingly peevish Julius is serving on a sequestered murder trial and is at risk of missing a once-in-a-lifetime gourmet dinner, and so Julius takes over.
In 'Archie Solves the Case',  when Julius's client is accused of murdering a rival chef over a stolen recipe, Julius takes on the case so he doesn't lose his favorite dish. But he has an another motivation that's revealed at the end. Of course, it can be debated which of them--Julius or Archie--really solves the case!

What readers are saying about Julius

"Fun in mysteries is back!"

"Really different and GOOD"

"A delightful book"

"Very cleverly done"

"Clever, funny, and very satisfying"

"Great read! The authors writing style is one that drew me in and kept me wanting to know what happened next."

"A joy to read"

"Very nice surprise"

"A very enjoyable read. Anyone who likes private eye mysteries would enjoy this book immensely."

"Imaginative and fun"

"Delightfully urbane"

Julius Katz mysteries have won Shamus, Derringer, and Ellery Queen's Readers Choice awards. If you haven't discovered Julius and his highly unique sidekick, Archie, isn't it about time that you do?

Monster in the UK

I'm happy to report that Duckworth Publishers have published a trade paperback version of Monster for the UK.

A small taste of ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE

(a small taste of ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE) What I went through with the Widow Quayle was downright pleasant compared to Jason Heckle, an investor Quayle had cheated out of a very large sum of money, at least according to a lawsuit Heckle had filed that was dismissed thanks to some very clever maneuvering on Quayle’s lawyer’s part. When I called him, he asked whether it was so that Julius could prove that he was the one who murdered Quayle.“Did you?” I asked.He giggled at that and said, “If I did I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”“Okay. So you know what Julius wants to talk to you about. Are you willing to come in?”“I don’t believe that would be very prudent. Why hand the great genius detective the rope to hang me with?”“You could convince him you’re innocent.”“That could be difficult,” he said. “And even on the off-chance that I am innocent, I don’t see any reason to make things easier for him.”He was having fun with this. I could hear the amusement in his voice, and it annoyed me. I felt the annoyance with the way my processing cycles were slowing down, as if flowing through molasses.“Yes or no, will you meet with him?”“I’d say no.”“So you’d rather have Julius dig into every aspect of your life than consent to a one-hour meeting?”“Oh, I’m sure he’d do that anyway.”He hung up on me. As I’d mentioned, he annoyed me, and he did so enough that I hacked into the IRS database, as well as his bank and brokerage accounts, and found several interesting discrepancies that could get him in hot water. When I called him back I mentioned these discrepancies. His tone changed then as he asked me how I found out about that.“Julius and I are both very good at what we do.”“So you’re blackmailing me now.”“Call it what you want. Just ask yourself whether you’re more afraid of an IRS audit or Julius pinning a murder rap on you. If you hang up on me now, that will help him even more than if you agreed to come in and meet with him.”
Click to purchase ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE

My two stories that seem to fool everyone

I've written two stories that seem to fool just about everyone--Old Wives' Tales, that's in my recent ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE collection, and A Hostage Situation, in my ONE ANGRY JULIUS & OTHER STORIES collection. Both stories have plenty of clues to their twist endings, but when I read these at book events no one has so far gotten either one, nor readers I trade emails with.

I'm going to make the following offer--if you read either of these stories and figure out the twist before you get 3/4s of the way through, I'll take your word for it and send you a kindle copy of either THE SHANNON NOVELS, FAST LANE, or BLOOD CRIMES, your choice.

ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE is now available for Kindle!

ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE  features the latest novella in the award-winning Julius Katz mystery series. When the great detective finds himself stumped in proving his client didn't murder a rival chef over a stolen recipe, it's left up to Archie to save the day. Also in this collection are four additional stories including my amusing PINK WIGGLY THINGS and my ultra noir 'TIL DEATH DO YOU PART.

Coming soon -- Archie Solves the Case

The gift of weeds for Mother's Day?

Normally I wouldn't suggest giving a gift of weeds for Mother's Day, especially not killer weeds, but a book full of Aukowies would certainly make a unique and memorable gift.

Ames Library on The Caretaker of Lorne Field

“The Caretaker of Lorne Field” is fast-moving with a “Twilight Zone” atmosphere. Jack is the ninth generation of Durkins to weed Lorne Field. If the field is untended, an Aukowie monster will grow. At one time, the caretaker position was a high honor. But 300 years have passed and most have lost respect for the position, the family, or the ancient contract. As the evidence of a lack of threat and calamities mount, Jack questions his own sanity while struggling to protect the world.

More of Ames Library recommendations can be found here.

My books making Best of the Year lists

National Public Radio's Top 5 Crime and Mystery novels of 2008
Washington Post's Best Books of 2008
Bookgasm's 10 That Were Great in 2008

Washington Post's Best Books of 2009
 Bookgasm Top Crime in 2009

American Library Association short list for best horror novel of 2010
Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book of 2010

WBUR (NPR Boston) 10 best books of 2012