Published: Jan. 08, 2011
Words: 81,561 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780971486881

Short description

Julia Gateswood hires reluctant PI, Mike Angel, to find her sister, but Julia’s social position and the sordid past of the sister make this anything but a simple case. Julia’s a mysterious ex-beauty queen, who married for ambition to congressman Henry Gateswood,running for a vacated US Senate seat from Illinois in 1962. Julia turns out to be a good hypnotist of Mike's libido. #3 in the series

Extended description

In another complex mystery, Julia Gateswood hires reluctant PI, Mike Angel, to find her missing sister, but Julia’s social position and her sister’s sordid past make this anything but a simple case. Julia’s a power-hungry ex-beauty queen, married for ambition to congressman Henry Gateswood, a charismatic ex-professor running for a vacated US Senate seat from Illinois in 1962. When Julia’s sister, a loose woman with past mob connections disappears, Julia calls on private eye Mike Angel, who quickly learns his new employer isn’t everything she seems to be, but what she is beyond a doubt is a great hypnotist of Mike’s libido. Can Mike live up to his father’s dictum, never to bed a client?

Before Mike is hardly into the case, he’s visited by Julia’s strange secretary, who later finds the missing sister’s headless body in the guesthouse of the Gateswood estate. Mike and his unofficial partner, Rick Anthony, a 25 year veteran of the NYC detective force and, whose voca.. (Read more) In another complex mystery, Julia Gateswood hires reluctant PI, Mike Angel, to find her missing sister, but Julia’s social position and her sister’s sordid past make this anything but a simple case. Julia’s a power-hungry ex-beauty queen, married for ambition to congressman Henry Gateswood, a charismatic ex-professor running for a vacated US Senate seat from Illinois in 1962. When Julia’s sister, a loose woman with past mob connections disappears, Julia calls on private eye Mike Angel, who quickly learns his new employer isn’t everything she seems to be, but what she is beyond a doubt is a great hypnotist of Mike’s libido. Can Mike live up to his father’s dictum, never to bed a client?

Before Mike is hardly into the case, he’s visited by Julia’s strange secretary, who later finds the missing sister’s headless body in the guesthouse of the Gateswood estate. Mike and his unofficial partner, Rick Anthony, a 25 year veteran of the NYC detective force and, whose vocabulary suffers from too many NYU grad classes, get to the crime scene before the police and follow clues that pit them against powerful Chicago mobsters.

One twisting aspect of Mike’s investigative instincts is often timely warnings from the “voice” of his late father, and also through sensations felt in a long scar Mike won during a shootout with the Russian mob who was behind his father’s death (in Dark Quarry). He also struggles with a desire to commit to Molly Bennett, his office manager and love interest, while conflicted with rescuing attractive babes who cross his path.

The 3rd in the Mike Angel Mysteries of complex, historical, erotic novels set in Chicago in 1962.
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Tags

mystery, murder mystery, seduction, 1960s, chicago, private eye, mob, hardboiled, complex, erotic detective

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Reviews

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Review by: Kristi (Books N Beans) on Jan. 04, 2012 :
This book was given to me for free by the author in exchange for a review.

Here's a pun for you in the form of a question. What gives private eyes the license to be a d**k? That's meant with all puns intended and in all meanings of the word.

It seems (at least to this reader) that private eye stories are the romance novels for men. Here's why. You're guaranteed a happy ending, in one the guy and girl get together and in the other the PI gets his crook. You get the life of a character that you know you have no chance of getting in real life, in one all the thoughtfulness and romance and in the other all the drinking, womanizing, and rudeness. Lastly, you almost always get a really well told story, even though in both cases the characters themselves may drive you insane.

Dark Blonde: A Mike Angel Private Eye Mystery by David H. Fears is a stereotypical PI story with a stereotypical lead character but a fantastic plot. The stereotypes are a lead character who is a heavy-drinking, womanizing, rude, unsophisticated, disrespectful cad, who manages to bungle his way through the mystery solving it by the skin of his teeth and through lots of unorthodox ways.

There is a bit of a fantasy aspect to this novel as well. No, not fantasy as in magic or science fiction, but fantasy as in women's romance novel fantasy. The story that will never happen in real life, but damn it's nice to wish. Isn't it? Mike Angel not only flirts and sleeps with anything in a skirt, but he has a girlfriend who is okay with the fact that he does. Most women would definitely qualify that as a fantasy, but to be fair ladies our romance novels set just as unrealistic standards.

However, if you can get over your aversion to Mike Angel and look past his distasteful ways, then you are in for a treat. Dark Blonde takes place in Chicago in the late-40's and Fears does a fantastic job of accurately documenting the events of that time: the organized crime, the corruption in the public services, the crackdown and clean-ups going on, and the political state of Chicago. It was thrilling to see such small details as the fact that Chicago is not called the windy city because of how windy it actually is, or in this case isn't. A lot of people don't know this, but Fears got it right, Chicago got it's title because of the "windy" & corrupt politicians. You're probably familiar with the saying, "Just blowing hot air."

Fears definitely keeps the plot hopping with a missing person turned murder victim, that before mentioned corruption and the clean-ups, the romantic liaisons that go way past triangles into other bizarre shapes, the characters' sordid pasts, the numerous skeletons in the closets, the beauty queen turned rotten, and the amazingly dysfunctional relationships and family dynamics.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Rebecca Weinstein on July 27, 2011 :
Novel Noir, you have met your author! Fears' novel chronicling the adventures of Mike Angel, private eye, was gripping from beginning to end. I hate to use a cliché here, but I have to. If you want a page-turner, this is the novel for you. I had a very difficult time putting this novel down, and Fears has made a fan of me.

What's so great about this book? In a word: Voice. Fears has perfected the voice of Mike Angel, the former NYC police officer-turned Chicago PI, and it oozes with noir magic. From the first sentence, I felt as if I was watching a film noir, in fact, Dark Blonde would be perfect for that. If you have not contacted an agent in Hollywood yet, Mr. Fears, I suggest you do so.

Mike Angel is a womanizing investigator, a character flaw that actually makes Angel that much more believable, and in my opinion, charming. I could not help but chuckle as he oogled everything that came at him in heels. Fears' treatment of Angel made his character so real that I felt as if I was right there with him.

Fears' story not only has a strong voice, but also great twists, turns, hooks that kept me wanting to know more, and an incredibly unexpected plot pivot at the end. Dark Blonde was a fantastic and absorbing read and I highly recommend it to fans of mystery, drama, film noir, or anyone who just really wants a great read. As an author, Fears has much to offer, and I look forward to seeing more from him.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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