Mac Detective Series 08: The Girl Who Wasn't There

by Thomas B. Dewey

The trail Mac found himself trying to follow was very cold. Another private detective -- his friend Barry Henley -- had been killed a year earlier in a fall from a tenth-story window, and the cops had written it off as accidental. But when Hensley's widow told Mac that several people had tried to get into her apartment under various pretexts; when Mac found she was being followed; and when the mug shot she picked out of the police department files proved to be that of a very tough egg, Whiskey Davis -- suddenly Henley's death began to look like murder. Mac knew for sure when the next death couldn't have been accidental. A bomb that blows up car and driver when the ignition is turned is never anything but murder....

"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

"More than one rub-out for private eye Mac to run through when a man with a well-minked wife is shot down by a police sergeant from Steel City, outside of Chicago. Exit also for an attorney, a safecracker and assorted others who are linked to the importance of teenage Marianne, the rehabilitation project of moneyman Lloyd, and a series of black-mailing pictures. Scrappy all the way." -- Kirkus Reviews

"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

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Thomas Blanchard Dewey was an American author of hardboiled crime novels. He created two series of novels: the first one features Mac, a private investigator from Chicago, the second features Pete Schofield.

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mac is back in familiar territory in his hometown of Chicago tending to his neglected private eye business when a young woman who was married to a deceased colleague asks him to check out suspicious activity regarding some snooping around her apartment. She is soon blown to bits in a car explosion and Mac is out for revenge. Restaurant Supply racketeers, shady lawyers, estranged sisters, and a secret will are all part of the complex mystery that Mac has to unravel by using his smarts instead of violence, although he does get beat up and can dish it out when required. This is the eighth book in the superb Mac series and somehow each book seems to improve upon the previous one. This is my favorite private eye series. I like the Mac novels better than Hammer, Noon, Liddell, Shell Scott, and other PI books of the era. An easy five stars and highly recommended.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one falls about in the middle of the Mac series (8 of 16) and is just about everything you want in a PI novel. It is well written and easy to read. It starts out with quite a merciless bang and has you, as well as Mac looking for answers about who killed his friend and his friend's wife a year later. Mac has little to go in but hunches, but in typical hardboiled fashion, it includes rich dames, hardened hoods, nightclubs, and things that go boom. Although some of these plot lines can be found elsewhere, Dewey manages to keep a few surprises under wraps for much of the book. This was a terrific read and stands up well against any of the fifties-era private eye novels. Leaves me ready to dig into more of this sixteen book series.

[Alfred Nobile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short book. Translated from German. Read in one day. Doesn't make me want to read more by this author.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's the real deal, man. Pulpy noir with soul and edge.

Mac's a P.I. who gets a call from an old dead pal's wife. She tells him of some recent fishy experiences and before they can figure out what's going on, someone blows her up in her car. Mac spends the novel trying to figure out who did it and why. Mobsters, lawyers, a sexy late night singer, an innocent blonde, the cops, and a sweet red-haired nurse all come into play. There's plenty of twists towards the end and I plowed through the last 30 pages like a runaway train.

Mac features in about 16 books by this author. He's cynical, but has a big heart. He spends most of this book feeling terrible for the lives lost, and even feels regret when he has to smash in some dumb goon's face. He's not in it for the booze or the dames or even the money. He's in it to make things right. I'd happily read more.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some tricky ideas liven this up.

Mac is seeking justice,as always. Here it is for a couple, a PI and his wife, whose involvement with the rich and crooked has led to their untimely deaths.

Again he seems to become romantically involved, but this time, is it for real?

Ever addictive.

3.5 stars