POISONED FOR REVENGE- A CASE FOR KITTY MCGEE

Official Synopsis:

"The Hottest Lady Shamus in 1920s Hot Springs returns! Kitty McGee continues to find life harder than she wants it to be. Hired by a bootlegger accused of poisoning his own hooch, Kitty goes head to head with the police, gangsters, and a relentless lady reporter. With enough grit to gum up a tommy gun and her trusty blade, Kitty McGee tears her way through the home away from home for America’s gangsters in the early 20th Century in true lady gumshoe style."

I like pulp adventure. I stumbled across some of the Bantam reprints of Doc Savage pulps, originally published between 1933 and 1949, back when I was in grade school and was hooked. Movies like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK just served to reinforce that addiction.

In recent years, there's been a bit of a resurgence of the genre, with imprints like Hard Case Crime reprinting hard-boiled, two-fisted tales of adventure by great classic authors like Lester Dent (of Doc Savage fame) and Cornell Woolrich along with new tales by the likes of Stephen King and Christa Faust inspired by those stories of yesteryear. There are even new Doc Savage stories being published today, written by pulp expert Will Murray (using the 'Kenneth Robeson' byline the originals were credited to) and published by Altus Press.

Especially with the advent of digital publishing, others have gotten into the game. One of the leaders of this new wave of pulp is Pro Se Press and one of their most intriguing innovations is the Single Shot line of short stories, available to download for the bargain price of ninety-nine cents from Smashwords and Amazon.

One of their newest offerings is POISONED FOR REVENGE- A CASE FOR KITTY MCGEE by Ashley Mangin.

Kitty McGee is a pulp-era private detective who specializes in helping those who have no other place to turn, because she remembers what it was like to lose everything after the stock market crash.

That's why she's answered the call of Donald Gordon, a small-time bootlegger with a big-time problem; his hooch has been poisoned and the cops are wanting to pin the deaths on him. When she speaks to him, Gordon points his finger at mob boss Big Al Candelari. In short order, Kitty is caught between mobsters and an overenthusiastic rookie reported named Billie Jean Byline, trying to solve the case and not get herself killed in the process.

'Poisoned...' is a quick read, both due to its short length (Amazon estimates it at 20 pages) and the breakneck pace that fits so well with the pulp feel the story is going after. Kitty is a fun character, armed with her knife and riding around on an Indian motorcycle, willing to take on the mob to help someone that the police are perfectly happy to lock up. Gotta love someone who fights for the little people.

If you like pulp stories, especially those with tough female protagonists, or have just been wondering what the whole 'pulp' deal is about, this title is good, inexpensive way to dip into the pool.

Personally, I wouldn't mind see more (and longer) Kitty stories in the future.