White-Metal Murders

This is the most interesting book of the year. I couldn't put it down. Gumpers is the best. You will be laughing and crying and laughing again, and you will be so attached to the fellow that you won't be able to stop until you've finished every last word.

Bruce has created, under extremely challenging conditions, a mystery book which is both entertaining and unusual. After retiring from the world of aerospace and non-fiction reading, I have turned totally to fiction to be entertained. This book is entertaining. Bruce does not have the contacts, which so many mystery writers have, to help flesh out the technical details associated with mystery writing. I am sure with his imagination and with help from his many friends he will evolve into a most interesting and creative writer.

An amusing and cleverly written novel, this book has quirky characters and a great plot which has complexity and builds suspense as clues surface with the author's creative flair. The author builds interest and intrigue from start to finish in this very well written story. For starters, a young man awakens naked, while lying in bed next to a rather attractive female, equally naked, which is great ... but ... the young man has amnesia and recalls none of the events which led him to this predicament. Little by little his memory surfaces, as he discovers his name Max Gumpers and his job which is Private Investigator. He also remembers he occasionally dated his secretary. When he fully realizes he was hired to solve the murder of Mr. Roosevelt, the President of Roosevelt Mint which manufactures miniature metal antique cars, Max gets down to business. Max is assisted in discovering his identity and recollections by Janet Sloan, the naked female, in whose apartment he awakened. She nick-named him Boopy and treats him kind of like a stray cat she took in from the cold. Yet, Max is certain Janet knows more than she lets on ... besides which she has a boyfriend who is a hoodlum type, who drives a big cadillac and wears tons of gold jewelry. Somehow Max suspects, the boyfriend had something to do with Max's amnesia and bump on his head. Interwoven within the plot is drug-smuggling and another murder or two. Max has some theories as to the "who dunnit" for the original murder investigation for which he was hired. He does some undercover work to unravel a highly complex and creative drug smuggling ring which goes all the way to Asia and involves a very serious drug lord. Overall, this is an action-packed, suspense-filled and humorously entertaining novel which involves a small time hoodlum who seeks to make it big. His unexpected gruesome demise is inevitable as Max Gumpers solves his case. There is one very satisfactory ending to this novel which the reader's will love. This is a most highly recommended book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

What happens when a man finds himself naked in bed with a beautiful woman, yet he can't even remember his name, nor hers? Should he rejoice or run for his life? Ah! the fun begins, in this humorous,entertaining, and tight written mystery by author, J. Monson. We meet Max Gumpers, P.I., or is that truly his name? Time will tell. Max is a very likeable fellow that trouble seems to follow around as he battles his amnesia, slowly recalling detail after detail of his life, and trying to solve a double murder on the side. Quite a boot full, won't you say? The author weaves a great mix of characters in the read. Lovely ladies with their eye on Max. Cold blooded killers, greedy drug lords, helpful police detectives, and a very industrial dead man who certainly plotted a scheme of drug dealing that encircled a host of trouble and mystery for the living, as the road twisted this way and that, leading you down some promising ways that hopefully held some answers, only to find a dead-end. Good job. I want to make mention that the use of the model cars in this mystery certainly was not something I saw coming and really added a lot to the read because it was not the norm. I am not going to give it away, but I don't think anyone would have ever guessed what was going on with them, if it weren't for P.I. Gumpers and his great investigating work. All in all a very good mystery read with just the right amount of who do it's and why's and just the right mix of likeable and unlikable characters. Very well done.

The way the story is told reminds me of the old radio show starring Jack Webb, "Pat Novak for Hire." OK, I know you may not remember the show. Listen to it on Internet radio sometime. Anyway, the author uses the first person, which is the way a good mystery should be told. Then he uses similes like Richard Breen did in his old radio shows. For example, when describing the strange blonds eyes he says,"They were blue, like Aqua Velva." Then, continuing in the old Jack Webb style, he writes, "As soon as she saw me she jumped out of her side of the bed like ejected toast . . ." This is the old Richard Breen style of writing fiction and it's pretty cool. For example, "her hand was as soft as a bag of marshmallows." This writing is right out of the old Jack Webb shows. Nothing wrong with that. Fact is, I'm glad to see it back. But it's a template sort of writing --- a style that plays over and over in each book or show or whatever. For example, the old Webb shows used a simple formula in each show, limiting the amount of writing that had to be done. So much for the style. Now the story. Punomia? Well, that's the way it's spelled in the book. The author meant pneumonia. The proofreading is poor. The story is a fun mystery. A touch of nice humor too. Again, thanks to the Richard Breen style. You meet our detective on the first page. He's in bed with a lovely blond and has no idea who she is or what she's doing in bed with him. He remembers very little. But he finds he has to solve a murder. And in order to do that, he must get his memory back. You'll love the story and you'll like the old style that's brought back from the grave of the forties. Recommended.