Have you ever sat up late at night watching Bogey on the boob tube slink around in his 
trench coat busting up mob bosses, smootchin’ on the pretty dames, and think to 
yourself, “Man, he’d look good in a pair of fangs.”  Me neither.  Apparently, however, 
P.N. Elrod has.  The main character of her Vampire Files series, Jack Fleming, wakes up 
on the beach one night to find himself with a headache, a shiny new set of choppers, and 
a mystery to solve.  Make that a few mysteries as not only does he still want to track 
down his long lost love, from which he inherited his nocturnal gifts, but finding out 
who “offed” him might be essential to his future health as well.  Luckily, he gets 
propositioned by a rather debonaire and observant English private investigator, formerly 
of the stage, to team up with him in order to solve these dilemmas.  

	Although the idea that ‘as long as you’re a vampire who has to drink blood to 
survive, you might as well put the bite on a few bad guys and do the world a favor’ has 
been seen before, think Forever Knight, the fact that its set in the glitz, glam, and 
muscle of the mob-infested 1930’s opens up a whole new can of worms.  For me, one of the 
most enjoyable aspects of the series was that this vampire fledgling has a conscience 
he’s continuously struggling with.  As he becomes more accustomed to his new talents, he 
also begins to associate himself with “The Shadow”.  No, not the Alec Baldwin movie, but 
the actual radio show the movie was based on that originated in this decade.  I should 
know.  My dad actually has tapes of the original broadcasts. This type of gumshoe mystery 
is less puzzle-based however and more a series of actions and reactions. Nothing like old-
fashioned Boff-Wham-Pow-Bangers to tease the senses.

This particular anthology sports the first three books in the series; Bloodlist, 
Lifeblood, and Bloodcircle.  Though the 4th, 5th, and 6th books are currently out of 
print, although according to Ms. Elrod’s personal website, a second anthology is in the works.  
The date of release has not yet been determined however.  The latest book in the series 
is scheduled to be released in January. So, if you’re interested in a good mystery with a 
little Brat-Pack attitude, this one’s for you.  Cheers and good reading, folks.