As winter hits, a new Max Allan Collins novel is as effective for providing comfort as a warm blanket. DEADLY BELOVED is his latest – his third for Hard Case Crime – and finds him revisiting one of his comics creations in prose form: the female detective Ms. Tree. She’s no feminist, mind you – she just likes the pun.

Her real name is Michael Tree, thanks to a newly freelance P.I. she just married, whom she met on the police force. Their honeymoon, however, is entirely too short-lived, as he’s killed outside their airport motel room by a crook from his past.

Flash-forward a bit to Ms. Tree taking over his agency – much to the dismay of her late hubby’s former partner – and taking on the case of her life, brought to her by her attorney: A wealthy man is found in bed with an HIV-positive prostitute, both dead. The wife is guilty, says the attorney, but hopes Ms. Tree can find some extenuating circumstance that just might her make her innocent, because the case just doesn’t make any sense.

She finds that circumstance, but I’m not going to give it away. DEADLY BELOVED jumps between this investigation and the backstory of her husband’s murder, all told to her psychologist in a framing device. In doing so, it’s an all-new Ms. Tree adventure, as well as a retelling of her origin.

As well-regarded as the Ms. Tree character is, I’ve never once read her. This novel serves as my introduction to the tough-minded, wisecracking woman, and she’s instantly appealing – no surprise, given Collins’ enduring gift for embedding the first-chapter hooks. Also in full supply: the authentic noir themes, a strong sense of humor and an effortless read.

In his nine-page afterword which fills in the real-life history of Ms. Tree and her roots as a gender-flipped tribute to Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and his secretary Velda, Collins leaves the door open for more Ms. Tree, either in novel or graphic novel form. Either way would be welcome, because the girl’s got the chops. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BLACK HATS by Patrick Culhane
• DICK TRACY by Max Allan Collins
• A KILLING IN COMICS by Max Allan Collins
• THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
• MY LOLITA COMPLEX AND OTHER TALES OF SEX AND VIOLENCE by Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens
• QUARRY’S LIST by Max Allan Collins
• ROAD TO PARADISE by Max Allan Collins
• TOUGH TENDER by Max Allan Collins
• THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MURDER by Max Allan Collins