The Nudger Dilemmas

Book excerpt: NUDGER IS ONE OF THE COOLEST, MOST ACCESSIBLE DETECTIVES IN HISTORY! This collection of 13 previously published stories starring Nudger, Lutz's worrywart St. Louis detective, provides an entertaining introduction to one of the genre's most distinctive private eyes. Nudger, whose ever-present antacids protect a stomach that turns at the mere hint of danger, somehow manages to do his job without resorting to fists or handguns. The well-turned phrase is his most lethal weapon, whether he's seeking justice for an executed man proved innocent after the fact or coming to the aid of his friend Danny, proprietor of Danny's Donuts, who believes that his fellow shipmates from Vietnam are being killed one by one. Lutz, winner of both the Shamus and the Edgar, also holds a lifetime achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Lutz's work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. He is the author of more than forty novels and over 200 short stories and articles. His novels and short fiction have been translated into almost every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, The Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two private eye series, the Nudger series, set in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series novels. His SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay.