Hank Mercer/Biff Deegan

Created by Mel Arrighi
(1933-86)

HANK MERCER is a mild-mannered novelist who’s grown tired… very tired… of chronicling the bestselling adventures of hard-boiled NYC private eye BIFF DEEGAN.

Certainly there’s precedent. Christie supposedly grew to hate Poirot’s ego, and Chandler felt trapped by the constant demand for the crowd-pleasing Marlowe.

And so Hank decides to replace Biff  with a crime-solving professor who solves his cases by utilizing his brain, not his fists,

But Biff has other ideas.

Like taking control of Hank’s life.

So put on your meta hipwaders. Alter Ego (1982) is a “novel of identity”.

So… is Hank delusional? Or has the obnoxious fictional private eye come to life? And if he’s actually come to life, can Hank kill him? And why does nobody else see or hear him?

Unfortunately for Hank, he becomes entangled in a real-life mystery, some silliness about art smuggling, kidnapping and may need Biff’s help.

For readers willing to go along with the old “Is he crazy or what?) gag (like me), Alter Ego  was a light-hearted by enjoyable bit of spoofery aimed at writers, publishing, and of course the Shamus Game. Billed as a “Hank and Biff Mystery,” it was likely intended as the first book in a series, except that the author passed away in 1986.

Which means he never got to see Murder By the Book, a decidedly even more light-weight 1987 made-for-television adaptation (or was it straight-to-video?). It starring the innocuous Robert “Airplane!” Hays as both Hank and Biff, this cheeseball is best served with a case of beer and a sharp-tongued viewing companion beside you on the couch, although I’m sure someone out there lists it as their “favourite movie of all time”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mel Arrighi was born in San Francisco, California, USA, and was a TV writer, probably best known for known for McCloud (1970), N.Y.P.D. (1967) and We Shall Return (1963).

UNDER OATH

• “The premise is more imaginative than its resolution, but Arrighi makes the narrative move at a brisk pace.”
  — Marvin Lachman (Fall 1990, The MYSTERY FANcier) on Alter Ego
• “Serviceable plot, with a couple of good publishing-world laughs (the Italian translator of Hank’s books has a disturbing tendency to mangle English idioms) — but the Hank-and-Biff premise, alternately cutesy and pretentious, will put off most readers.”
  — Kirkus Reviews on Alter Ego
• “The movie is a curiously jokey noir but its story does not have the slyness and mercurial plotting it could have used to really poke fun at the genre. It is safe and fun enough for a family viewing (Stewart in particular could have been infused with far more sultriness) but it is mostly a near-miss.”
  — Jerry Saravia on Cinema on Murder By the Book

NOVELS

• Alter Ego (1982) | Buy this book

FILMS

• MURDER BY THE BOOK | Watch it now!
  (1987)
  94 minutes
  Based on the novel Alter Ego by Mel Arrighi
  Teleplay by Michael Norell and Andy Siegel
  Starring Robert Hays
  Also starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Christopher Murney, Fred Gwynne, Celeste Holm, Lewis J. Stadlen, Gavin Reed, Jacques Sandulescu, Jonathan Moore, Martin Neufeld

THE DICK OF THE DAY

• October 8, 2026
  THE BOTTOM LINE: Put on your meta hip-waders again! In Alter Ego (1982), nebbishy crime writer Hank wants to bump off his best-selling hard-boiled detective Biff. But Biff has other plans. So… is Hank crazy, or did Biff really come to life? Later made into a straight to video cheeseball, Murder By the Book, starring nebbish supremo, Robert Hays, as both Hank and Biff.

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.