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Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery
A dozen stories about crime and duplicity originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and various anthologies.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
6 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Steve Hockensmith
93 books528 followersSteve Hockensmith is the author of the New York Times bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls and several other novels, including the Edgar Award finalist Holmes on the Range. He lives in Alameda, California.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 25, 2019
I love short stories. I love detective stories.
The single funniest is the one about the Communist PI in LA. It is the source of most of my highlights
"Property being theft and all, I felt free to help myself." That's comedy.
But about half the stories are about Detective turned PI Erie. These were just wonderful and every time I found one I was so happy.
The single funniest is the one about the Communist PI in LA. It is the source of most of my highlights
"Property being theft and all, I felt free to help myself." That's comedy.
But about half the stories are about Detective turned PI Erie. These were just wonderful and every time I found one I was so happy.
August 20, 2025
I'm so happy I discovered this author in an anthology. I love his style!
November 23, 2025
Couldn't stop
Storytelling that kept me hooked. Had me looking forward to the next one. Entertaining with chuckles & twists throughout. Fun
Storytelling that kept me hooked. Had me looking forward to the next one. Entertaining with chuckles & twists throughout. Fun
October 2, 2012
Though probably best known for his novels which feature brothers Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer, cowboys turned detectives in late 1890′s America, author Steve Hockensmith started out writing short fiction. He’s damn good at it too, as evidenced by the fact he’s had scores of stories published over the years in numerous anthologies and mystery magazines, including showing up regularly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery gathers together a nice collection of Hockensmith’s work which was originally published between 2000-2006. The meat of the collection is made up of six stories featuring Larry Erie, a retired detective turned P.I. and (initially) reluctant cat owner.
Derringer Award-winning “Erie’s Last Day” opens the collection and sets the stage for Erie’s future as a PI by following his last day on the job as a detective. Far from sitting back and enjoying the back pats, balloons and cake, Erie decides to give one of his cold cases a last going over and gets more than he bargained for.
Scattered throughout the rest of the collection we follow Erie, who lives in a relatively sleepy small Indiana town, on adventures that include the search for a hijacked trucking shipment (“The Big Road”), the case of a little girl’s missing dog, which turns out to be something much larger and infinitely more sinister (“Animals”), and the kidnapping of a monkey with an attitude from the local zoo (Shamus Award finalist “Tricks”), among others.
The standout of the collection by far, however, is “Didn’t Do Nothing.” Though Hockensmith has a well-deserved reputation for incorporating a sly, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor into most of his work, “Didn’t Do Nothing” is as serious as a heart attack, fitting since the story is also heart breaking. Early twentysomething Scottie Crocker lives with his aunt and cousin in a poor area of Chicago. Despite his best efforts, Scottie lost his job at McDonald’s because he forgot to show up one time too many, not to mention he tended to yell at customers who made fun of his stuttering and status as mentally challenged. So, when the resident drug dealer offers Scottie $20 to take a walk into a rival dealer’s territory and report back on what he sees Scottie jumps at the chance. After all, he isn’t really doing anything…right?
If you’re unfamiliar with Steve Hockensmith’s writing, Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery is a great way to get your toes wet. And if you’re already a fan, it’s a convenient way to catch up on a dozen entertaining stories you may have missed along the way or simply would love another chance to read all in one place. In either event it’s money well spent, and that’s no blarney.
Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery gathers together a nice collection of Hockensmith’s work which was originally published between 2000-2006. The meat of the collection is made up of six stories featuring Larry Erie, a retired detective turned P.I. and (initially) reluctant cat owner.
Derringer Award-winning “Erie’s Last Day” opens the collection and sets the stage for Erie’s future as a PI by following his last day on the job as a detective. Far from sitting back and enjoying the back pats, balloons and cake, Erie decides to give one of his cold cases a last going over and gets more than he bargained for.
Scattered throughout the rest of the collection we follow Erie, who lives in a relatively sleepy small Indiana town, on adventures that include the search for a hijacked trucking shipment (“The Big Road”), the case of a little girl’s missing dog, which turns out to be something much larger and infinitely more sinister (“Animals”), and the kidnapping of a monkey with an attitude from the local zoo (Shamus Award finalist “Tricks”), among others.
The standout of the collection by far, however, is “Didn’t Do Nothing.” Though Hockensmith has a well-deserved reputation for incorporating a sly, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor into most of his work, “Didn’t Do Nothing” is as serious as a heart attack, fitting since the story is also heart breaking. Early twentysomething Scottie Crocker lives with his aunt and cousin in a poor area of Chicago. Despite his best efforts, Scottie lost his job at McDonald’s because he forgot to show up one time too many, not to mention he tended to yell at customers who made fun of his stuttering and status as mentally challenged. So, when the resident drug dealer offers Scottie $20 to take a walk into a rival dealer’s territory and report back on what he sees Scottie jumps at the chance. After all, he isn’t really doing anything…right?
If you’re unfamiliar with Steve Hockensmith’s writing, Blarney: 12 Tales of Lies, Crime & Mystery is a great way to get your toes wet. And if you’re already a fan, it’s a convenient way to catch up on a dozen entertaining stories you may have missed along the way or simply would love another chance to read all in one place. In either event it’s money well spent, and that’s no blarney.
July 25, 2016
After reading several excellent high tension books in a row, I was in need of something good and something fun. That's when I remembered that I'd found yet another Steve Hockensmith short story collection, and all I had to do was grab my Kindle and find it. Once again, this author did not disappoint.
Gathered together after being published in various magazines and anthologies (and being nominated for-- and winning-- awards along the way), these twelve tales run the gamut of emotions and situations. For me, the weakest of the lot was "Fred Menace, Commie for Hire" about a Communist private investigator. Menace certainly knows how to wisecrack his way through dangerous situations, but I've never been a fan of the Humphrey Bogart-style gumshoe. In "The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Cookie" we learn why fortune cookies no longer contain real fortunes, and in "The MacGuffin Theft Case" there's a very amusing answer to why pizzas are round.
Ex-cop turned private investigator Larry Erie stars in six of the twelve stories. "Erie's Last Day" lets us see how Erie spends his last day before he retires from the police force, and succeeding stories show him in retirement and then some of the cases he gets when he's persuaded to become a P.I. Erie is a marvelous character, and I would love to see him in a full-length novel. (Come on, Steve-- geriatric sleuths are In!)
The best story of the lot-- the one that tugs at your heart and really revs up your brain cells-- is "Didn't Do Nothing" about an innocent young man caught in the middle of a Chicago drug war. I would tend to be suspicious of anyone who could read this and be unmoved by it.
Based on my reading his Homes on the Range historical mysteries and his short stories, Steve Hockensmith has rapidly become one of my favorite crime fiction authors. I never used to be a fan of short stories, but this man is almost single-handedly changing my mind. He just might change yours, too. Give him a try-- You don't need an eReader; this collection is in print, too!
Gathered together after being published in various magazines and anthologies (and being nominated for-- and winning-- awards along the way), these twelve tales run the gamut of emotions and situations. For me, the weakest of the lot was "Fred Menace, Commie for Hire" about a Communist private investigator. Menace certainly knows how to wisecrack his way through dangerous situations, but I've never been a fan of the Humphrey Bogart-style gumshoe. In "The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Cookie" we learn why fortune cookies no longer contain real fortunes, and in "The MacGuffin Theft Case" there's a very amusing answer to why pizzas are round.
Ex-cop turned private investigator Larry Erie stars in six of the twelve stories. "Erie's Last Day" lets us see how Erie spends his last day before he retires from the police force, and succeeding stories show him in retirement and then some of the cases he gets when he's persuaded to become a P.I. Erie is a marvelous character, and I would love to see him in a full-length novel. (Come on, Steve-- geriatric sleuths are In!)
The best story of the lot-- the one that tugs at your heart and really revs up your brain cells-- is "Didn't Do Nothing" about an innocent young man caught in the middle of a Chicago drug war. I would tend to be suspicious of anyone who could read this and be unmoved by it.
Based on my reading his Homes on the Range historical mysteries and his short stories, Steve Hockensmith has rapidly become one of my favorite crime fiction authors. I never used to be a fan of short stories, but this man is almost single-handedly changing my mind. He just might change yours, too. Give him a try-- You don't need an eReader; this collection is in print, too!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews