The Steel Web

Deets Shanahan #2

by Ronald Tierney

A new adventure for Indianapolis old-timer Deets Shanahan, the antithesis of trendy, who now sets out to prove that street-punks Leo and Billy did not bayonet to death Sam Puckett, a cop working undercover on a cocaine bust. With the sometime help of girlfriend Maureen and bar-crony Harry (who shakes a tail), Deets niggles away at magazine publisher/philanderer James Connell, who, for inexplicable reasons, is splashing stories of gang wars and killer punks across his pages, while at the same time prying into Sweethearts, a T&A bar with drug connections, whose manager is blown up in his car. Unraveling Puckett's drug connections is easy compared to uncovering his love life: Who was with him in Barbados? Several red herrings later, Leo and Billy are off the hook (thanks, in part, to a Puckett girlfriend) and Deets discovers the story behind the headlines. Fast-paced, wryly told, and evenly balanced--solid detection combined with warm, empathetic characterization. Besides, it's about time the Modern Maturity crowd had their own pinup. Who better than Deets?

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Ronald Tierney has been a bus boy, hod carrier, assembly line foreman, retail clerk, Army sergeant, actor, house painter, ditch digger, shipping clerk, salesman, advertising copywriter, frame shop owner, communications director, bank officer, and newspaper editor. He was editor of a San Francisco monthly and founding editor of an alternative weekly. Born in Indianapolis, Tierney attended Indiana University in Bloomington. He lives in San Francisco where he is working on several fiction projects.

Reviews

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of plot twists and turns in this one. And a ROTARY PHONE!!! Oh my, these books are such a trip down memory lane for me. But also good little mysteries.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this PI story.

It seemed a bit dated due to the publishing date.

It deals with circumstantial evidence pointing to the guilt of two thieves who make the mistake of robbing a dead body and leaving evidence of themselves behind. Not to mention not notifying anyone of the bad luck of robbing a house with a dead guy inside.

The suspects are young and pass some of the bills at the local store and are caught immediately.
Too late to deny the murder and cop to the theft.

As usual Deets must provide the investigative wherewithall pro bono to set justice right.

This includes a sly politician and a defense lawyer not quite up to the task.

Who knew Indianapolis was such a hotbed of promiscuity and cheating on spouses?

I borrowed a copy from the public library.