Mick plays a significant role (“mostly legal”) in solving the case-with a little help from the Hacker’s Handbook!īut it is in Muller’s latest book, A Wild and Lonely Place (Mysterious Press, 1995) that the World Wide Web is a major player-and with it, Sharon’s now apparently permanent assistant, nephew Mick. Mick can’t log enough hours on Sharon’s new Apple, and he is determined to be a P.I. Enter her nephew, Mick Savage, son of country music star brother, Ricky. So Sharon installs an Apple and is determined to learn to use it. Sharon goes into business for herself-McCone’s Investigations-and realizes that a computer will be a necessary evil (Rae and the All Souls database had served her needs in the past). In Marcia Muller’s Till the Butchers Cut Him Down (Mysterious Press, 1994) super-sleuth Sharon McCone leaves All Souls Legal Cooperative, scene of many previous Muller mysteries, and her old sidekick, Rae Kelleher. But who takes over the computer? Carlotta’s tenant/sidekick, Roz, embraces the Internet “like a natural cyberpunk.” Says Roz, “it’s kinda like a video game from hell.” An important part of the story involves her purchase of a PC from a rather shady character who later figures prominently in the mystery. In Linda Barnes’ Hardware (Delacorte Press, 1995), P.I./cabbie Carlotta Carlyle announces “computers have arrived,” and vows to go on line. Skip Langdon enlists the high-tech expertise of both of her sidekicks, boyfriend Steve Steinman and landlord Jimmy Dee Scoggin, in order to penetrate the world of posters and lurkers. Julie Smith’s New Orleans Beat (Ballantine Books, 1994) revolves around a computer bulletin board called TOWN. Thus the emergence of the cyber whiz sidekick. However, the latest trend seems to be a sleuth who has his/he own access to a computer but is reluctant to go on-line. To be fair, in her latest adventure, Twilight (Pocket Books, 1994) Jenny herself unravels what is probably the most vital clue from another hi-tech marvel, Caller I.D. In Nancy Pickard’s Jenny Cain mysteries, Jenny’s husband/sidekick, Port Frederick Police Lieutenant Geof Bushfield provides assistance with police department technology. Sometimes Archy’s antics are so hilarious that it is easy for the reader to lose all grasp of the case at hand! However, the ever-engaging Archy insinuates himself into the nefarious proceedings and muddles his way to denouement. In McNally’s Trial (Putnam, 1995) he has both Rogoff and FBI Special Agent Griffin Kling providing their formidable expertise. In Lawrence Sanders’ McNally series, Archy works hand in hand with Palm Beach Police Sergeant Al Rogoff who provides access to the FBI database and other law enforcement technology. In The Web (Bantam, 1996) even though the story takes place on an isolated far-off Micronesian island, Alex is still able to command Milo’s techno-assistance via long distance telephone. In Self-Defense (Bantam, 1995) Alex himself does use the university library terminal to access the career of a suspect movie producer, but it is Milo who does the comprehensive computer searches. In Johathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series, cop-buddy Milo Sturgis is always ready and willing to use the LAPD database at Alex’s direction. The sidekick needn’t even be human-look at Qwilleran and Ko Ko! These days, with technology becoming a greater factor in crime solving, a new sidekick has emerged: the computer whiz.įor several years now, the computer has come into play when the sidekick is a policeman. Watson, Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, Spenser and Hawk. The sidekick has long been an integral element in mystery and detective fiction: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. A Mystery Reader Abroad: Mystery, Egyptian Style by Carol Harper.Just Juveniles: Kids and Computers by Nancy Roberts.In Short: High Quality Tech by Marvin Lachman.Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Sally Cadagin, Kate Derie, Carol Harper, Carolyn Kacena, Peter Kenney, Patrick McGuire.
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