Frank Gould Series by Deren Beck, Alan Asnen

"This is all part of a four-book origination story designed to illuminate the mystery behind Frank's life, who he really is and how he came to be, while, at the same time, telling the readers this grand opera about a chase through time and space by this very mortal and damaged but very smart schmuck and how he comes to...well, I don't want to give the ending away, do I?"--DerenImagine Lenny Bruce marrying Seneca, siring an hallucinatory Mickey Spillane... more"This is all part of a four-book origination story designed to illuminate the mystery behind Frank's life, who he really is and how he came to be, while, at the same time, telling the readers this grand opera about a chase through time and space by this very mortal and damaged but very smart schmuck and how he comes to...well, I don't want to give the ending away, do I?"--DerenImagine Lenny Bruce marrying Seneca, siring an hallucinatory Mickey Spillane. That’s our melancholic, vegetarian detective, Frank Gould.Frank Gould, a retired professor of Humanities who has come to the detecting business more as a favor to his friends than anything--and spends more of his time finding dogs and cats than missing spouses--is confronted with a story about a lost cause that spurs his interest on several levels despite being absolutely absurd.Following up on it leads him to discover a connection with someone from his past he thought dead. Worse, a man he holds responsible for the death of his wife and child. Soon the layers begin to increase as he follows a trail laid out by an unlikely source. A detective mystery/thriller with some comic overtones; first book in a series, and the first in an intended four-book sequence. less

"This is all part of a four-book origination story designed to illuminate the mystery behind Frank's life, who he really is and how he came to be, while, at the same time, telling the readers this grand opera about a chase through time and space by this very mortal and damaged but very smart schmuck and how he comes to.. more"This is all part of a four-book origination story designed to illuminate the mystery behind Frank's life, who he really is and how he came to be, while, at the same time, telling the readers this grand opera about a chase through time and space by this very mortal and damaged but very smart schmuck and how he comes to...well, I don't want to give the ending away, do I?"--DerenAs the pretty lady says, some people suck the nice right out of you…even with sweet, little Emily Dickinson in the title, yeah…Last summer, in what one famous mystery writer called a cross between Rex Stout and JD Salinger, you were introduced to the newest form in fiction, the Potpourri Mystery, with You Belong to Me: Volume One of The Frank Gould Mysteries. And you were introduced to Frank Gould, a neurotic Mike Shayne with too many PhDs.Now, with winter darkening, comes the return of Frank Gould and his pack of hounds in the Potpourri Mystery sequel…WE MUST AN ANGUISH PAY: Volume Two of The Frank Gould Mysteries.A mysterious man hires Frank to find his kidnapped monkey while hiding a secret about Orson Welles. Frank must first travel to Paris after a desperate veteran and to close the books on the past in this long-awaited (no, not really…it’s only been a few months…) sequel to You Belong to Me.Back home, he is hot on the trail of that missing monkey, wandering through Hollywood and the deserts of Southern California, that location, if you recall, he loves so much. A confrontation with another old friend. Maybe more than one?Perhaps something more than a simple tête a tête?Now lookie here buds and budettes. When you read a Frank Gould mystery, it’s no in and out quickie. This is a long-term relationship (at least four books for this one...) Sure, there’s a case, and it’s going to be opened and closed before you leave. But there’s also something else going on here that goes back to the very beginning. And you have to start there, and you have to pay attention. Every little detail counts. Don’t skip a thing. It’s a mix of Jung and Derrida, if you get my drift. And drifting through coincidences is a matter of physics, according to some…metaphysics according to others.WE MUST AN ANGUISH PAY follows Frank and friends as they continue on the path towards Terry Blankenship. From the outset Frank is harassed by his ongoing self-conflict. And Melissa. And Paula. And Peanut. This does not abate when a call comes in from an old friend asking him to do what he’s never done before, nor when that call leads him to stumble into the arms of another old friend he hasn’t seen for decades. Where does it lead? To Paris and love. Danger and new mysteries. Old ones, as well. less