Gumshoe Blues: The Peter Ord Yarns

by Paul D. Brazill

“The adventures of this PI feel like they rolled out of a Tom Waits song — crime with the feel of a shaggy dog story” — K A Laity.

“An original homebrew with a kick. Well worth sampling.” — Mark Ramsden.

Following the breakdown of his marriage, in a booze-addled flash of inspiration, Peter Ord decides to become a private investigator. Dark farce and tragicomedy soon ensue. Peter must tackle many challenging cases, and when he comes under the radar of a local crime lord, he may have bitten off more than he can chew. With sidekicks, like boozy hack, Bryn Laden, failure is not an option - it’s compulsory.

101 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2019

About the author

Paul D. Brazill is the author of A Case Of Noir, Guns Of Brixton & Roman Dalton- Werewolf PI. He was born in England and lives in Poland.

He is an International Thriller Writers Inc member whose writing has been translated into Italian, Polish and Slovene.

He has had writing published in various magazines and anthologies, including The Mammoth Books of Best British Crime 8,10 and 11, alongside the likes of Ian Rankin, Neil Gaiman and Lee Child.

He edited the best- selling anthology True Brit Grit – with Luca Veste.

Reviews

[Don Gerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

{60-second video review here} ---> http://bit.ly/GumshoeBlues

Welcome to a place where ethics and loyalty might rely on who bought the last round. Peter Ord is our detective/tour guide, and we are treated to an intimate peek into the swamp that is his life. Bad things happen, and Peter is one of those folks who will be around to clean up.

As long as he gets paid, of course.

Author Paul D. Brazill’s crime noir novel is a collage of characters that roll in and out of the pages. He paints with a brush loaded with dark humor, and his descriptions are what power the book. Two sentences from the first page say so much: “I was lying on a brown tweed sofa and tangled up in a tartan blanket that had seen better days and nights. I was home.”

Gumshoe Blues is a series of vignettes rather than one long case. Peter’s cases are far from ordinary, possibly due to the quirkiness of the people he knows and deals with on a daily basis. Strange cases lead to strange solutions, and the author’s wry comments keep the book funny and constantly moving forward. A character introduced in one spot might have a leading role the next week. Life is constantly moving in Peter’s world, especially when flavored with a heavy dose of noir. Quick fun read, and never a dull moment. Five stars.

[Christi M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with a voice and style so strong that it was as if the narrator in my head was from a 1940’s noir film set in New York. However, it wasn’t too long before I realized the voice narrating the story in my head needed to change accents because it is actually set in Seatown, England featuring a main character who has most definitely seen better days.

Thoughts:
Gumshoe Blues is a set of four stories featuring Peter Ord, a private investigator who clearly works for people on the shady side of ethics and morality. The stories give a constant twist and turn feel as we go along with Peter in his daily life where he introduces us to just about everybody. No character is too minor in this book for Peter to tell us all about them. Whether it be a waitress delivering a drink or a man standing next to a machine. When they enter a scene we learn of their quirks, their middle school nicknames, who they dated and any other bits of information Peter may know. If we aren’t provided with their history, then we are given descriptions that so incredibly unique and descriptive that you can visually see them.

“Paddy’s face was like a blackcurrant crumble and so lived-in that squatters wouldn’t stay there.”

The four stories included are: Gumshoe Blues, Mr. Kiss & Tell, Who Killed Skippy?, and The Lady & The Gimp. Gumshoe Blues is the longest, but what is interesting in all four is how they build on each other. Random characters and incidents that you believe are just tidbits mentioned in passing take a larger role in the following stories. I found the Who Killed Skippy? to be my personal favorite in which Peter is hired to protect Craig from himself. Perhaps it’s my favorite because the opening scene is in a graveyard, or is because a ‘murder of crows’ is used within the story. I mean, who doesn’t love the phrase ‘a murder of crows?’ But I suspect it’s due to finally learning about what happened in a unique animal incident referenced within the first story.

Overall, fans of gritty noir stories will enjoy this book. Characters are quirky and memorable and it doesn’t hurt that it comes with a good dose of dark humor. Also want to give props to the author for all the extremely well-thought out characters. It must have been incredibly fun to create all their backstories.

Thanks to Blackthorn Book Tours for the reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

[Graham Wynd · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is always reason to rejoice when a new Brazill book hits the streets. The northern setting of Gumshoe Blues offers a laconic pace which suits the humour and makes the stark failures of the impromptu gumshoe Peter Ord a little (dare I say it?) poignant. As Vic & Bob can tell you, Northern doesn’t always travel well down to the sunny climes. Their loss, because there’s much amusement here along with the noir-flavoured escapades. The adventures of this PI ‘feel like they rolled out of a Tom Waits song’ — crime with the feel of a shaggy dog story, complete with running jokes.

Ord’s adventures seem to ramble, but most of the colourful characters (like Tuc, the guy who tattooed his own neck looking in the mirror) and seemingly disparate threads effortlessly web together in the end. Brazill makes it look easy. After all, the only sin is making it look like work — or playing bad music.

The world of Seatown feels so real that you’ll be sure you’ve walked those streets and heard those songs. Chances are you ran into Ord in some dark pub. He was the one in the corner in the suit beginning to fray, nursing a bad hangover and wondering how he got there. Buy him a drink. He needs it.

[R. Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gumshoe Blues: The Peter Ord Yarns is a gritty, intense, humorous, and mesmerizing tale about a private investigator who works in a corrupt port town. As a relative novice to the genre, I did not expect such a fast paced, richly imaginative plot, as well as an emphasis on creating a detailed world, with complex and realistic characters. Paul Brazill takes great care to describe each character in detail, with occasional endearing traits, and frequent personality flaws, woven together within the local historical context of an English small town setting.

Paul Brazill succeeds with Gumshoe Blues by keeping his story focused on his main protagonist, Peter Ord, after developing his character through a series of witty encounters and flashbacks. His supporting characters move the plot forward, and frequently provide comic relief to lighten the mood, preventing the book from feeling too dark or tragic. This book engrossed me so much that I finished it in two sessions. I highly recommend it.

[Warren Stalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gumshoe Blues: The Peter Ord Yarns by Paul D Brazill comprises of the following four short stories – Gumshoe Blues, Mr Kiss And Tell, Who Killed Skippy? and The Lady And The Gimp. The book follows the shambling adventures of cut price private eye Peter Ord who lurches in and around Seatown, a rain soaked coastal town in the bleak North East of England. The most impressive thing about these stories are the classic one liners and dazzling word play that author Mr Brazill expertly weaves throughout the narrative. Despite the grim and grey environment there’s a black gallows humour that makes this book a real pleasure to read. If you haven’t read anything before by Paul D Brazill then I suggest Gumshoe Blues is an excellent place to start. Enjoy.

[Isobel Blackthorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a corker of a volume this is! Four stories, one a novelette in length, all told from the perspective of washed-up, hard-boiled private investigator and former English teacher Peter Ord. The opening scene of 'Gumshoe Blues' find Peter waking up on New Year's Day after a night of binge drinking. I can hear U2 playing in the background, I can smell the fetid air in the grotty room. The sleaze continues on into pubs and Velvettes, a nightclub for 'gentlemen'. We soon meet the  supporting cast of barmen, dancers, and underworld bosses make up the northern UK town of Seatown.

Throughout the volume, Brazill's originality and imagination shine. 'Mr Kiss and Tell' finds a wife-beating loser and Ord as a store detective at Poundland - one of Britain's cheap discount stores. I am reminded of 'World of Quid' in the opening episode of the new season  of Birds of a Feather. Stores existing to let the poor believe they can afford to shop. 'Who Killed Skippy' finds Ord paid to protect Craig Ferry, from himself. The mystery is solved in the end, but it is hardly the point to the story, which is rather to spotlight the iniquitous Ferry family and particularly the  loser-behemoth, Craig. 'The Lady and The Gimp' is an oddly charmingly bleak tale of former lead singer of a punk rock band Lightning Jones - who belongs to Spammy Spampinato doing time for a string of murders -  and Barry Blue, 'The Gimp', doing some handyman work at Harry Shand's bar. His gaze lands on Jones and he falls in lust. Meanwhile, Jones hires Ord to track down his mother. 

 Brazill crafts strong, believable and quirky characters. The jump cuts walking us through vignettes and backstory work well. A healthy use of colloquialisms lends a gritty authenticity. Told masterfully with tremendous wit and realism in taut, punchy prose, Gumshoe Blues contributes a work of considerable merit to the noir crime stable. In all Brazill offers his readers a window on northern Britain's underbelly, the everyday humdrum banality of struggle street existence and wrecked lives. Definitely a book to look out for.

[Susan Hampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t a long book but clear a couple of hours of ‘you’ time because it really deserves all your attention. Paul Brazill is a master of one-liner dry humour beauties that constantly roll from each page. His descriptions of people are unique, the like of which you have never heard before but it brings each character to life in its own memorable way. Yes, Paul Brazill, you are a genius in my eyes and I want everyone to read your books.
When Peter Ord decides to become a PI it is on a wing and a prayer backed up with an almighty amount of booze. So I drank in every story, all four of them and came away still thirsty and needing more like I always do.
The cases aren’t your run of the mill sort with each having its quirky, hold on to every word of uniqueness. The four stories are Gumshoe Blues, Mr Kiss and Tell, Who Killed Skippy? and The Lady and the Gimp, yes the stories are as bizarre as the titles suggest.

Set in Seatown each tale is interwoven in a timeless loop of yesteryear music that isn’t there playing by accident. Every word has a purpose and every tune is a play on a situation. All very clever stuff that you could miss in the blink of an eye. Can’t recommend these books enough!

[Lel Budge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This starts with Peter Ord, Private Investigator waking up after a heavy New Years Eve, has a wake up Stella, diazepam and codeine chaser and ready for the day ahead…..grim.

But, this is full of dark humour as Ord takes various cases, drinks constantly and has numerous capers along with an assortment of misfits and na’er do wells…..oh and there’s a dead kangaroo too!!!

Utter madness, with intense imagery, music references and so darkly funny. Thoroughly entertaining.

Thank you to Blackthorn Tours for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and for a free ecopy of the book. This is my honest and unbiased review.

[David Burnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first encounter with the work of Paul D. Brazill was courtesy of the Close to the Bone Publishing website with a short story entitled “The Last Shot”and I enjoyed what I read. I’m a huge fan of this style of dark pulp/noir writing, so it was a no-brainer for me to click on the ad for the author’s latest work “Gumshoe Blues” and pre-order a copy for my tablet. Once loaded and opened, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. The pages oozed with rich, multi-layered plot progression and detail. Read my full review on The Haunted Pen website at https://bit.ly/2nT4uxU

[Paul Matts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul D Brazill has produced another collection of gritty, gutter-laden and immensley colourful characters, led by the main man himself. Plots develop and musical references abound. Really enjoyable stuff.
Peter Ord's life came to a situation where, for better, for worse, or for some other result between the two, he became a private investigator.
The 'seaside town they forgot to close down' (get the musical reference..?) setting starts proceedings nicely and reeks of seedy atmosphere. No spoilers to be given mind.
What are you waiting for....

[B.F. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

GumShoe Blues is Brit Grit and self-proclaimed “screwball noir” author Paul D Brazill’s latest novelette, completed with a few short stories shedding light on some of the characters and events. The result is dark, witty, farcical and thoroughly entertaining.

The story follows its detective anti-hero Peter Ord on his numerous missions. “Ordy”, as the unsavoury characters he rubs shoulders with call him, is a former English teacher, freshly divorced and above all a piss-head. When he finds himself with no money and the rent to pay urgently so as not to finish cooked in a pizza oven like the previous late-payer tenant, he takes on a new job as a private detective.

His missions take him from bar to bar and hangover to hangover, from surprise to surprise. His choices are not always top tier but he somehow falls back on his feet, though not always elegantly and more often than not with some scraps and a hangover:

“Shit!” I said. I pushed him backwards into the window of Berny The Bolt’s DVD Rentals Shop, which cracked as he crashed into it. “You twat,” he said, as he charged towards me, red faced. He barged me towards an alley at the back of the off license. Gasping for breath, I hurtled into a pile of stuffed and overflowing black bin bags that spilled across the alley. I felt as if I’d been in this situation before.

Ordy’s adventures are dark and hilarious, and they come at a quick pace, with strong visuals and a killer soundtrack. If this book was a movie, it’d be Lock, stock and two smoking barrels meets Pulp Fiction with a hint of Man Bites Dog.

Their dramatic intensity is stifled by the ridiculousness of some of the bad guys or the burlesque nature of the situations, making it a quirky tragicomic read.
“Carole Anders, my old English teacher […] sported a brown eye-patch as the result of a drunken brawl with one of the sixth formers she taught. I’d seen it reported in the local paper.”

“In my wildest dreams I’d never have thought that the best sounds to use to contact the dead would be a techno version of Eye Of The Tiger. “

“It was rumoured that he went to bed with a teddy bear and a machete. One thing the Kruger Twins did share, though, was a violent temper”

The characters surrounding Ordy are all as off-kilter as another and provide a highly entertaining range of society screw-ups and washed-out Z-type celebrities. Like the clubs and hotels the protagonist visits, their past is far more glorious than their present and there is a hint of nostalgia in their musings of the 1970s, their longing for their brighter past which gives them an interesting depth.
“I tell you, son. Never get old. You don’t know what it’s like. You know, when I close my eyes,” Ernie said, shifting his stained pillow.

Written as a first-person retelling of events, the style gives the protagonist the opportunity for many hilarious side bars, similes and punchy one-liners, and the placid matter-of-factness with which he utters the funniest and most unexpected of statements makes the central character likeable in his booze-infused wisdom.

I slowly sipped the beer can’s warm, flat contents until I started to get a glow on, like one of the kids in the old Ready-Brek adverts. Booze: central heating for piss- heads.

There were sweat patches under the arms of his raincoat. Quite an accomplishment, that.

Angie’s smile was like the froth on a cappuccino. It softened and took the edge off the darkness and bitterness beneath it.

Reverend Abbott’s frankly barmy sermons were as infamous as his acid flashbacks. It was clear where he was going, though.

Though his life isn’t exactly what he’d like it to be with mobsters and a bitter ex-wife cramping his style, he waddles through it with much confidence, taking pride in the job he didn’t choose and seizing the opportunities it provides, leading to the unexpected and greatly executed finale.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Brazill’s vivid imagery doubled with his noir-yet-comical style make it impossible to put down.

[Julie Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of mysteries, chances are you have come across the hard-boiled detective subgenre.
Since those days, many authors switched around, parodied, paid tribute to, and updated the genre with different levels of success. A recent variation of the genre is the Peter Order Yarns by Paul D. Brazill. Brazill transports the genre to England where he not only pays tribute to the hard boiled detectives but updates the genre to give it a postmodern Millennial sensibility making the hard edges even harder, the cynical detective even more self-aware, and filling it with pop culture references and technology to amuse modern Readers.





In his anthology, Gumshoe Blues, Brazill writes four stories that pits Ord, a former teacher turned private investigator, against Seatown, England's not-so-finest citizens as he tries to find some semblance of justice in his part of the world.





What makes this book is Ord himself. He has a sarcastic wit that will make the Reader smirk if not chuckle. In his first person point of view, Ord makes comments like “Some twat, somewhere, was playing a U2 song, over and over again, and all was far from quiet on friggin’ New Years Day.” Later he derisively refers to the members of U2 as “Bonzo, The Ledge, and their musically illiterate pals.”



He derides everyone and everything around him with the same detached cynicism mocking Seatown (“a fading one-whore town”),

his clients (Jack Martin a nightclub owner is described as “Despite his Newcastle accent, his nicotine-stained and brandy-brimmed voice still sounded more than a little like the tiger from Disney's The Jungle Book cartoon”) ,

the local characters (one man, Tuc, was so dumb that he received his nickname because “he tattooed a dotted line and the word 'Cut’ on his neck while looking in the mirror.”),

his ex-wife (Ord says he was married for fourteen years but he “don't (sic) remember breaking two friggin’ mirrors.”),

himself (“Jack Martin was hiring me because I was a sex-starved loser. The sort of bloke, in fact, that any resourceful, gold-digging stripper that recognized that I was ripe for the fleecing. Flattery will get you everywhere.”)

and everyone else he encounters. (While at a club promoting Super ‘70s night, Ord observes: “most of the clientele were knocking on seventy, too, which is why it earned its reputation as grab-a-granny night.”)



There is a hard edge to Ord's humor and the more the stories continue, his sarcasm seems more desperate. He is surrounded by a vengeful ex-wife and childhood friends who are unemployed and have no choice but to take on lives of crime.



This is a world where crime families such as the nefarious Ferry Family and Ronnie and Roger Kruger, the latter duo are obvious parodies of the real-life Kray Twins, rule the area.



In Seatown, alcoholism and drug addiction run rampant and married couples beat each other more than bed each other.



In a town that appears to be claustrophobically cut off from the rest of the world and the residents are often left to their own violent, hopeless, lawless devices, Ord's sarcasm becomes a defense mechanism. It's his means of retaining some sense and detachment from the hard edged world around him.



A striking detail about these stories is the realism behind the life of a private detective. In most fictional accounts, the detective may start with a theft or a missing person’s case but they always develop into a murder that puts the detective on the run from mobsters, career criminals, stalkers and what have you. Expect beautiful women (or handsome men depending on the detective's gender and sexuality), threats, breaking and entering, and car chases a-plenty. The detective almost always figures out whodunnit usually during a tense and potentially violent confrontation with the murderer in question.



The short stories in this collection show what life is really like for a private detective, i.e. that murder is rarely the case.



In the title story, the longest story in the set, “Gumshoe Blues”, Ord is hired to infiltrate nightclubs to learn which of the exotic dancers is having an affair with her clients. This assignment ends prematurely when he himself sleeps with one of the dancers. Ord is then hired to look for his ex wife's fiancée's father as well as to tutor and spy on the daughter of Jack Martin, a very wealthy and dangerously tempered client. He is also solicited to find a cheating spouse, a witness to a public indecency charge, and to ghostwrite Martin's memoirs.



The story, “Mr. Kiss and Tell” Ord moonlights as a store detective/shopping center Santa while he is hired to find a missing wife who disappeared after a domestic disturbance encounter.



In “Who Killed Skippy?” Ord is hired to mind the black (or is that white?) sheep of the criminal Ferry Family, Craig, an autodidact, who has a penchant for booze and senior citizen women. Craig then hires him to bury a kangaroo, one of several exotic animals that Craig was supposed to transport to a rich eccentric. However, the kangaroo was shot by a mysterious biker.



“The Lady and The Gimp” the final story features Ord hired to find his client's mother to resolve an inheritance dispute.



Most of the stories involve missing persons or catching or spying on wayward spouses or family members. Even when the case veers towards murder like the last two stories, there is a lack of suspense as the killers are easy to figure out by Ord and the Reader.



There are no exciting passages of car chases or thrilling escape attempts from the villain's lair. In fact, most of Ord's detective work involves interviewing locals and mere observation.



There are very few dramatic confrontations with the suspects and most of Ord's discoveries can be attributed to knocking on the right door or sheer dumb luck. Instead of his forebears who get beaten up and live to fight another day, when Ord gets hit usually because of his own foolishness or big mouth, it really hurts and he's out for the count for days.



While this may make this anthology sound boring, the truth is, it's rather refreshing to read. So many accounts glamorize the world of the private detective and make it appear to be more dangerous and sexier than it really is. What most books, movies, and shows don't reveal are the dull days that involve paperwork, cases that require minimal suspense, and trailing leads that don't go anywhere. There isn't a murderer behind every door and sometimes the solutions are either very easy to discover or are never resolved.



The Peter Ord Yarns give a realism to the life of a private detective that counters the glamor seen in other sources. In fact, Knighton’s book is so self-aware of that image that Ord mocks it. When Ord reveals that he began his career as a private investigator he “didn't harbor any romantic illusions that the profession would bear much of a resemblance to the lives of Marlowe and Spade, (he) had at least a smattering of hope that there might be a little silver screen glamor to the job. Over the years, the hope and (he) have barely been on nodding terms.”



Gumshoe Blues is a clever addition to the hard boiled detective genre by commenting and mocking it. It is also a tribute and a hard, cynical, sarcastic, sometimes love letter to the genre.

[Tess Makovesky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rollicking and wonderfully warped meander through the seamy underbelly of a fictional northern town in the company of dodgy PI Peter Ord and a battalion of supporting characters who range from goofy to downright menacing but are always entertaining. It's sleazy, but it's also tremendous fun!

[Martin Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable comedy crime caper from the talented pen of Paul Brazill. Lots of wordplay, lots of double entendres and lots of witty dialogue and characters. I think I'd really like to see Mr Brazill put Seatown's denizens into a novel length work. He definitely has the talent and the chops for it. But until he does, we readers will have to make do with these shorter (but still sweet) tales. Recommended.

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

.It is a short crime novel based on Seatown private investigator, Peter Ord.
He was a teacher who dropped out to be a private eye.
Stories are small and decorated by intelligent descriptions if scenes and situations. There are innovative takes on common events, like wobbly finger.

Characters are multiple with story line changing for better at every page end.
Narrative is enjoyable, without
complexities and events invariably return to bars and there is a lot of booz.

He frequently uses metaphors comparing people and places with popular film and music personalities and athletes.

Dark humaor binds the cases and words like whiskey, vodka, brandy, cold, rain and farts, fly appear regularly.

Not a long boring, uselessly burdned thriller book, but short Quirky and interesting stuff you are going to like.

Conversations between characters is in captivating dialect; that keeps predictability at bay.

Thanks Blackthorn tours for reading opportunity. I look forward to read other works by the author.

[Amy Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique, to say the least

Brazill pens a dark yet satiric story in Gumshoe Blues: The Peter Ord Yarns. It's a very interesting story surrounding Peter, who is a PI. I enjoyed reading this story, and was very taken in by the story and how it was told. Brazill writes very well, and knows how to keep the balance between dark and light, as well as humoristic satire and farce. It is a unique story, that is told very well. I like Brazill's writing style, and that kept this reader interested. I look forward to reading more by this author. This read is definitely recommended by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews.

[Danny Farham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of pulp and noir novels, so I was extremely excited to read Gumshoe Blues, set in my native North East England! The stories set throughout the grimy estates and bars are incredibly moody and realistic. I was immediately hooked.

The author never lets the book get too dark, as it is peppered with razor sharp wit and one-liners that had me giggling like a schoolgirl. I'll definitely read more by this author.

[Haley Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book Review- Gumshoe Blues by Paul Brazill The main character in this book is name Peter Ord. Peter is a private detective working in his home town. Although there are several scenarios, they characters are all known to the main character and so the story unfolds. Paul Brazill is a very entertaining writer whose work flows and produces quite a lot of laughs as well. I love the dry sense of humour that flows through the book. All in all an enjoyable read.

[Kevin McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seatown PI

Another fast read from Paul Brazill, this book about Seatown PI Peter Ord. Filled with colorful characters and Mr. Brazill’s wonderful wit, these are stories from a seedy town and a new PI who will do just about anything to make a buck. Well written and shows a side of life most of us never see. Looking forward to the next Paul Brazill treasure.

[Ruth Benziger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brazill was a new author I discovered to be well versed, have engaging characters, and a story line that enters a world you want to seep into. There was some fun and witty things in this book, he's a skilled author. A PI, Peter Ord enters a world he didn't quite expect and enlists the help of his sidekick to navigate it all. Great and fast read.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Ord what can I say. Talk about northern grit & grim & honestly funny parts.
A great story that constantly carries on page by page.
It might not be a crazy mile a minute but it definitely kept me hooked.
Well worth a trip & read.

[Simon Maltman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying collection featuring vivid characters from a murky seaside underworld. Hard boiled and humorous in equal measures.

[Ruskoley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really impressed with Brazill's writing... The story could be fleshed out a wee bit more, but for a short story/snapshot it is fine. I really do want to read more by this author!

Brit grit crime pulp with a keen eye for scene and well-placed snark.

Recommended for all who like gritty, witty snapshots of crime towns, seedy underbellies, hapless private investigators, and down-on-their-luck folk.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review can be found here: https://thereadingwife.com/gumshoe-bl...

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul D. Brazill brings us a seedy high school teacher turned sleuth in Gumshoe Blues. The sarcasm can crack a whip in this short novel.

I must admit that I am a little bit in love with Ordy. He is as full of dung as he is booze. That is what makes him so magnetic. I didn’t laugh once through the whole story, but I did snort quite unladylike. Ordy has that effect on people, I suppose.

The sheer number of characters in this book is overwhelming at times, but they all belong there. I can’t put my finger on why, but mostly for ambiance, I think. They set the stage for the kind of seedy hangouts that the main character frequents.

I give props to the author for his fantastic descriptions of the setting, as well as those secondary characters. I could feel myself sitting across from Tuc drinking a good gin and tonic.

I award Gumshoe Blues 4 out of 5 stars because I was confused as often as I knew what was happening. There are massive shifts in the story, and some of the wording contradicts itself. However, it is a great read, and I recommend it to anyone who is up for a quick read with a little sass to go along with it.

[Nick Gerrard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished the two books. (This is book one in the series) As always, true Brit grit noir! Loved them. Great writing filled with Britsh wit and sarcasm, and a rogues gallery of life's under-belly characters. If you have not read Paul's work before then this is a good place to start.