First published back in July of 1987, Gary Brandner’s short story ‘Dressed Up For Murder’ was released as a stand-alone story for the Fastback ‘Crime & Detection’ series. Fastbacks were designed to encourage reluctant readers to take up reading, keeping the stories short, sharp and exciting.
The story was later reprinted within the ‘Claws & Feathers’ (1989) Fastback Anthology.
The story was later reprinted within the ‘Claws & Feathers’ (1989) Fastback Anthology.
Detective Sergeant Miles Becker Wasn’t in a good mood. He was taking his wife Rhoda and their nephew Kevin to Fun World for the day. It wasn’t how he’d choose to spend a precious day off work.
When they arrive, they find Fun World isn’t exactly a magical place of fun and entertainment. Even the park’s star attraction – Barney Bunny – was off for the day. Instead, they had Chubby Chipmunk, who was quite frankly, a lousy substitute. In fact, when the costumed chipmunk turns up for his entertainment slot, he just sits there doing nothing. This was turning out to be the day off from hell for Becker.
However, later on, after spending the day on a variety of crumby rides, the family return to watch Chubby Chipmunk’s second show of the day. And it’s actually not that bad. Even Becker breaks a smile. That was, until the costume clad man falls down all of a sudden, and doesn’t get up again. In fact, he never gets up again.
There’s no doubt that foul play is afoot in Fun World. Even on his day off Becker has to deal with a murder. It seems a sergeant is always on duty…
American horror author Gary Brandner is perhaps best known for his novel ‘The Howling’ (1977). However, what we have here isn’t so much a horror as it is a murder mystery. Essentially, we have a story involving a healthy cast of characters, with their lives all intertwined in some way, an affair, and a crime of passion. Agatha Cristie, eat your heart out!
Despite the story’s short length, Brandner crams in a whole host of details which end up playing a part in the murder of the man playing Chubby Chipmunk. Becker’s investigation is short and sweet, questioning all those who knew the murdered man, whereupon the affair and other critical clues come out.
It’s a fun and entertaining read, with the puzzle pieces coming together relatively quickly. However, it’s with the characterisation and jovial writing style that Brandner’s adopted which makes the story work well. Not exactly a complex or particularly clever story, but entertaining, nonetheless.
The Fastback runs for a total of 28 pages (which are just 4” x 5.5” with an average word count of around 100 words per page).
© DLS Reviews
