Charley Fog, Private Eye - Mark Leichliter - Bog

Charley Fog, Private Eye is an homage to tough guy "Private Eye" writers. Dashiell Hammett, Mikey Spillane, Raymond Chandler Ross Macdonald, and other writers' hard-boiled "PI" s who came alive with their "heaters" at hand, solving mysteries and nabbing crooks while fending off the seductions of femmes fatales. 1949 Los Angeles,
Charley is in his office, mourning the recent death of his partner and vowing revenge. But business must continue, or he might find himself thrown out of his cheap flea trap hotel, the Palace.
Opportunity knocks at his office door. A beautiful Dish wants to hire him to find a box containing a hand-written Will, cash, and jewelry-beneficiary the Dish. Miss Pyne, the Dish, thinks her step-father rubbed out her mother by reducing her home to ashes, with her mother asleep inside.
Before Fog solves the case he is beaten up by two Goons, tricks two Gorillas, and kills a Dandy-then tracks down his partner's killer.
Visits to Robin, a dancer at the Kit Kat Lounge provide surprising clues as Charley sets a trap in his office that doesn't end as he anticipated. Charley Fog Private Eye, is a mystery and a wink and nod parody of the genre.