Bad News and Trouble by Maxine O'Callaghan

Somehow Delilah's cases never end up neat and tidy.  There's always some unknown factor that ends up twisting things around and threatening her.  But she's not about to give up...

Brash Books sent me a copy of this book for review (thank you).  You can buy a copy now so check with your local bookstore.

I would never have met this author if it weren't for Brash Books.  They have brought old books back to life in new editions.  Ms. O'Callaghan writes about a hard, almost harsh, female detective who will take on the world to solve her case.  This is walking, talking noir and there's not a lot of good noir left in the world.  I was happy to see more of her work published.  This is a collection of short stories and is the third book of her work I've read.

These stories are short and to the point:  Men trying to kill their wives, missing diamonds, the mob, and more.  I worked my way through them in short order and enjoyed each one.  My favorite one is the last story.  The woman thinks her husband or her best friend is trying to kill her by hiding her inhalant that is for emergency use that she carries in her purse.  It's a much more benign reason the inhalant disappeared.

For a blast of the past and to see how good stories can be written without a lot of words, you need to read Ms. O'Callaghan's work.  She's a master of this craft.