Magazine Review: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine December 1978 edited by Sam Merwin Jr.
Private eye Michael “Mike” Shayne was created in 1939 by David Dresser, writing under the name “Brett Halliday”. The books were long-running and popular, and in 1956 Dresser licensed the character to a puiblishing company to be the headliner of a digest-sized mystery magazine which ran until 1985. Each issue had a novella about Mike Shane using Brett Halliday as a house name for multiple authors.
“Death in Xanadu” by Brett Halliday leads off the issue. A reclusive millionaire has had a number of narrow escapes from murder in the last few days on his fabulous estate (which includes a private zoo.) So he hires Mike Shayne to look into it. The cover picture isn’t a complete lie.
“What Really Happened in Farnsburg” by Mike Plake takes us to small-town Texas for a comedic tale of quirky folks and a clever scheme to sell a bunch of stolen cars. Sometimes gets a bit too folksy, and there’s an odd bit of fanservice.
“The Wreck” by Kenneth Gavrell shifts the scene to Hawaii, where two skindivers engage in a game of revenge. A bit predictable.
“The Ehrengraf Appointment” by Lawrence Block has the title lawyer assigned to some pro bono work defending an indigent client accused of wife-murder. Not even the defendant believes in his own innocence (though he claims not to remember the actual murder), but Ehrengraf always has innocent clients. No matter what steps he has to take to make them not guilty. Seems a bit silly at first, but gets dark quickly.
“Long Gone, Forever” by Joe R. Lansdale takes us back to Texas, but this time to a wealthier area. A dying millionaire asks tough private eye Ray Slater to look for his missing wife. Turns out Reba might not have run away voluntarily and there’s a number of possible suspects that hang around the country club. Including the local alt-right Nazi-wannabes. Mmm, Nazi-punching. That never gets old. A somber ending and the best story in the issue.
“Licensed to Die” by Jack Leavitt is set at a small television station’s party to celebrate keeping their license to operate. Except that one of the guests has murdered the rival station’s owner. It’s time for a book reviewer to come to the rescue by reading too much! Enjoyable.
“The Burglar” by K.L. Jones has title character John Evans stumble across a murder victim during his latest crime. Obviously, he can’t go to the police, but when the investigating officers decide she was killed by a burglar, Evans must find the real killer to clear his name. Except, of course, of the burglary thing. Pretty good story.
“Quick Change” by Craig Weeden closes out the issue with a short tall tale about a con artist whose victim is a little too honest for the crook’s own good. Mildly amusing.
The Lansdale story is from very early in his career, and has rarely been reprinted, so this issue is worth looking up for the serious collector.
