Review of "Tom Rudolph P. I." by John Maclay

Review of

Tom Rudolph P. I. by John Maclay

Four out of five stars

 This collection of short stories about private investigator Tom Rudolph is filled with clichés taken from the 1940’s and updated for the modern era. Rudolph is an admitted throwback to the 1940s in that he wears cheap and rumpled suits, lives simply in an office/apartment, drives a battered old car and apparently struggles to pay his bills. He lives in a seedy section of town where the cheap hotels and female dancing bars are located. In an adjustment to the modern era, Rudolph manages to encounter and bed an extremely attractive woman in each story.

 True to the genre, Rudolph has a friend on the force that is a pal and helps him out when needed. He is an ex-marine that gets beat up on a regular basis, throws his weight around on occasion and always manages to solve the case. Since they are short, the stories are light reading, quickly building the context with a resolution that appears quickly, although not always predictably.

 If you like the 1940s depictions of the private investigator, then you will enjoy this book.