Callie Darrow
Created by Barbara Paul (1931 --)
Private eye CALLIE DARROW made her debut in Barbara Paul's Shamus-nominated short story "The Reluctant Op" Which of course begs the question "Why is she so reluctant?"
Well, for a good part of het life, Callie was on the other side of the line. A thief and a con artist most of her life, a prison term finally convinces her to change her ways. But she isn't out of the hoosegow long before the owner of the Bass Detective Agency, a large, upscale detective firm, blackmails her into working for him, to steal back a shipment of gold figurines that she had helped steal in the first place.
The way he figures it, Callie is expendable. But Callie survives to appear in a few more stories, including another one, "Golden Retriever," which also garnered a Shamus nomination.
Callie's an interesting character, and her on-going moral dilemmas, plus her numerous contacts in the criminal world (which of course make her such an invaluable addition to the detective agency) add a little extra grit to the usual EQMM P.I. fare.
SHORT STORIES
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Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks, Jan, for the lead.