Nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award and published in both the following story collections:
THE NIGHT AWAKENS, edited by Mary Higgins Clark.
THE WORLDS FINEST MYSTERY & CRIME STORIES VOL 2, edited by Ed Gorman.
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A lady suited to her comely name, Minnie Chaundelle Bazile, asks Cisroe to find her brother Verlyn, missing for a few days. When Cisroe does, he learns Verlyn is lying low. He used to work for an oil company, until he became a whistle-blower about its shoddy operations. Shortly after, young Verlyn is killed in an auto accident … except Cisroe does not believe the “accident” part. He enlists a friend to help him, Stinger Gazway, and Gazway has no compunctions about dealing death to evildoers.
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The name Cisroe Perkins carry some weight, they say. But sometimes you wonder if you got to earn a name for good or bad each day the sun comes up between the rows. It was like that by way of a case for a lady named Minnie Chaundelle.
Minnie Chaundelle was a beautiful big woman with waved hair swept close to her head like raked copper. The color was by way of her stylist boyfriend, and a front tooth rimmed with gold came courtesy the neighborhood dentist. The dentist never charged Minnie, and Minnie never charged him, so it was a nice arrangement that kept Minnie in a wholesome smile.
How I met Minnie Chaundelle was a phone call. She wanted her brother found. I always ask to see my clients first time face-to-face. She said she wasn’t about to truck all over town no matter how nice a man I was. What make you think I’m a nice man?, I says. The word get around, she says.