Dear Priscilla

by Mark Schweizer

October, 1943. Detective Merl Cahill and his partner, Fish Biederman, have got a good thing going. Chicago in 1943 is a very lucrative place to be one of "Chicago's finest." Merl Cahill is not only one of "Chicago's finest" he's also one of "Chicago's largest" - an ex-Chicago Bears' lineman standing six-seven and weighing two hundred eighty pounds. He might be considered one "Chicago's meanest" if any one of his collars stayed alive long enough to press charges. When a dead girl is found in an alley behind a grocery store, it's Merl and Fish who get the call. After a second girl turns up, so does the heat. A mug like this would usually be no match for these two, but this killer is different - colder, smarter, with a warped psyche that defies all attempts at unraveling. All they can do is wait for him to strike again. A female detective promoted to the squad does little for morale and as the tension mounts, it becomes clear that the killer isn't finished. Not by a long shot. A love story, a hard-bitten potboiler with twists, slugs, roscoes, and more than a few belly laughs, Dear Priscilla is also a look back at Chicago in the early '40s - WWII, Maxwell Street, the Union Stock Yards, the Times, Chicago Bears football - and populated with some of Schweizer's best characters to date. All this makes for a comic noir thriller that you won't want to miss.

Mark Schweizer is known for his cozy, tongue-in-cheek St. Germaine mysteries. Please be aware that although "Dear Priscilla" has a significant amount of humor, it is a hard-edged police thriller.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2011

About the author

In 1974, Mark Schweizer, a brand-new high-school graduate decided to eschew the family architectural business and become an opera singer. Against all prevailing wisdom and despite jokes from his peers such as "What does the music major say after his first job interview?" (answer: You want fries with that?), he enrolled in the Music School at Stetson University. To his father, the rationale was obvious. No math requirement.

Everything happens for a reason, however, and he now lives and works as a musician, composer, author and publisher in Tryon, North Carolina with his lovely wife, Donis. If anyone finds out what he’s up to, he’ll have to go back to work at Mr. Steak. He actually has a bunch of degrees, including a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona. I know! What were they thinking?

In the field of bad writing, Mark had the distinction of receiving a Dishonorable Mention in the 2006 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, an annual contest in which the entrants compete for the dubious honor of having composed the worst opening sentence to an imaginary novel. In 2007, his sentence now found on page 17 of The Mezzo Wore Mink was runner-up in the Detective Category. This, and two other of his entries, were featured in It Was A Dark and Stormy Night: A Collection of the Worst Fiction Ever Written, edited by Scott Rice and published by The Friday Project.

In varying stages of his career, Mark has waited tables, written articles for Collgehumor.com, won opera competitions, sung oratorios, taught in college music departments, raised pot-bellied pigs and hedgehogs, directed church choirs, sung the bass solo to Beethoven’s 9th with the Atlanta Symphony, hosted a classical music radio show, taught in a seminary, sung recitals, started a regional opera company, published choral music, built a log cabin, written opera librettos, directed stage productions, helped his wife to raise their two children and managed to remain married for thirty-two years. He also owns several chainsaws.

“Well,” Donis says, “it’s never boring.

In the fall of 2001, I began what I hoped would be a funny little book about an Episcopal choir director/ detective that had a flair for bad writing. Now, nine years later, that book, The Alto Wore Tweed, has had its ninth printing and the rest of the books (bad writing aside) are winning awards and working hard to catch up. Thanks to you, the Hayden Konig adventures continue to make their way into the hands of mystery lovers and across church choirs, one reader and singer at a time.

Reviews

[Janet Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Mark Schweizer's Liturgical Mysteries, so I couldn't wait to try his new murder mystery. Warning: it is nothing like his previous series. However, it was a good read, and I enjoyed it.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book--it's well written and an interesting plot with a fair serving of Mark Schweizer's brand of humor--but I feel I must give a warning. If you enjoy Schweizer's Liturgical Mysteries series, this book is much more hard-boiled. While Hayden Konig of the aforementioned series may be inspired in his literary endeavors by Raymond Chandler, this book is more like a collaboration between Chandler and Schweizer. Prepare for our protagonist to punch far more suspects than Konig ever even thought about. And don't get me started on the enforcement necessities of his partner's bookmaking sideline....

[Adafrog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. It was a little bit hard to start, in part because it's as if it was written in that time period-including the words-but good.

[Bob Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This writing endeavor by Mark Schweitzer, about rough, tough, gritty 1940s Chicago cops was an unexpected surprise and job well done.

[S.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of the hysterical Hayden Konig liturgical mystery series has something new and different, more a ‘40s noir quite a bit darker than the liturgical series but with some light humor. The place is Chicago and the time is 1943. The war is going on overseas and also on the streets of Chicago. Merl Cahill is a former Chicago Bear and Fish Biederman is his partner. Merl is big and menacing and Fish pads his paycheck as a bookie. Fish reminds me a bit of the bookie in the recent Men of a Certain Age TV series. Fish isn’t above sending a goon out to break a few fingers of those who owe him money. When someone starts leaving body parts in duffle bags, the police aren’t shy in their methods of getting suspects to talk in the typical “Chicago Way.” It is soon learned that the killer is sending letters to a “lonely hearts” columnist at The Times. When these letters spook the “Dear Priscilla” columnist, she quits. Merl, playing around at the typewriter at the columnist’s desk, inadvertently ends up having his playful response mistaken for the real “Dear Priscilla.” His column turns The Times into a must-read newspaper, increasing its subscribers dramatically. The editor talks Merl into taking over the column for a healthy amount of money, which is a welcome addition to his meager cop salary. Meanwhile Merl is somewhat engaged to Vi who lives in Peoria, but is carrying on with Gloria, a new detective on the force. DEAR PRISCILLA is chock full of Chicago history with the cops attending Bear games and the Union Stockyards. Merl is a likeable goon and he and Fish work well together. You don’t need to live in Chicago to enjoy DEAR PRISCILLA.

[Debi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. The author has a series called Liturgical Mysteries which are hilarious so I picked up this one. Not good. The Liturgical Mysteries have a light, satirical humor to them. They're full of references to church customs and musical arcana. They're fun. This book, on the contrary, was just dumb. Set in Chicago among thugs and dim-witted policemen the humor centered on an advice column but wasn't funny enough to save the book. The murderer turned out to be a minor character only introduced a couple of times...I had to go back, once I'd finished the book, to find his name on earlier pages and figure out who he was and how he fit in--he was that minor.

I won't bother with this author again unless he continues the Liturgical Mysteries. They're worth reading but apparently his other stuff isn't.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is quite a departure from Schweizer's nine earlier works (all in the Liturgical Mystery series) and doesn't quite hold together. Imagine a fusion of The Three Stooges and Nightmare on Elm Street, if you will. On one hand, Schweizer injects a number of humorous elements in his otherwise hard-boiled Chicago detective story of 1943, the funniest being a police sidekick/bookie/Jewish cantor character and a mixed-up advice column shtick. On the other, the murderer is right up there with the sickest serial killers of all time. Schweizer does have a good feel for the hard boiled detective story, and I think he has a marvelous sense of humor, so I'd recommend dropping the blood and gore if he goes forward with a new series.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I got into the book, it was hard to put it down. It was not what expected but it really was a "good read". The murders were a pit more graphic than the "liturgical mysteries" and, like Hayden, Merl is a cop, but there the similarities end. Where as Hayden is really funny, Merl is a bit of a pompous ex-football player. It has some very funny lines but if you were expecting funny and silly this book is more esoteric.

[Margaret]

Fun read...Thanks Marty! Great vintage read about the 40's...really enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading more...wonderful summer read...perfect for the beach or lounge chair!