Created by Mike McHone
“Most cases involve cheaters. They’re our bread and butter. I think it’s an unwritten rule P.I.s have to follow an unfaithful spouse ninety percent of the dang time.”
The premise of the 2023 short story “Carver (And) [Company]” is actually more intriguing than the plot, although the story’s not too shabby either.
But it’s the detective who’s the real hook.
Seems thirty-something JOSEPHINE “JO” CARVER, who’d spent “six years working homicide for the Michigan State Police and six years prior to that as an MP in the U.S. Army,” now wears a Mickey Mouse watch on her wrist, occasionally binges on hot and sour soup at the Lucky Star Chinese buffet, and runs a one-person detective agency in Detroit that specializes in domestic cases.
Quirky? That ain’t the half of it.
Jo’s agency may be a one-person show, but she doesn’t really do it alone. It may take a little bit of deciphering of some peculiar punctuation (or at least it took me a bit) to realize that the Eddie and Gertie who are constantly chiding Jo for everything from her investigative techniques to her language and diet choices aren’t really there–they’re just voices in her head.
Which she seems to have under control, although I keep hoping the author brings Jo (and her crew) back for a follow-up.
SHORT STORIES
- “Carver (And) [Company]” (March/April 2023, EQMM)
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
