Always a Cold Deck & Humbug on the Hudson

I've been reading Robert Bruce Stewart's amusing Harry Reese novels in reverse order, and now that I've read the first book in the series, Always a Cold Deck which includes the short story Humbug on the Hudson (#364), I now know how the unlikely pairing of Harry Reese and Emmie McGinnis came about. (See my posts on Kalorama Shakedown 10/8/13 & on Crossings 10/28/13.)  We also learn just how Emmie acquired that taste for gambling in all its myriad forms and why Harry will never solve another insurance fraud case completely on his own again.

It all begins in Buffalo in the summer of 1900.  Harry's glad to get out of New York City ahead of his landlady with a small cash advance to investigate a  burned out grain elevator on the Buffalo shore.  Several of the partners in the business are missing and one is presumed dead, but no bodies have been discovered.  The insurance company is still on the hook to pay out the claim unless Harry can prove that the claim is fraudulent.  What he uncovers is a confusing tangle of smuggling, human trafficking, bodies, and switched identities as Harry's pursuit of his big payday leads him back and forth across the Canadian border.  One of his initial discoveries is that Emmie McGinnis, the receptionist in the Eastern Grain Elevator office, is the niece of the presumably dead partner.  It's in the best interest of Emmie's family to prove that her uncle really did die in an accident so that her aunt can claim the insurance settlement, but Emmie has an open mind.  If Harry won't work with her, she has no qualms in setting about solving  the mystery on her own with the dubious aid of an enforcer for the local crime boss who has a vested interest in the outcome.  Only Emmie would think that the hastily put together wedding reception for her marriage to Harry is the perfect place to pump the suspects in the case!

The short story included in this volume, Humbug on the Hudson, takes place just weeks after the Reese's marriage and this little caper is just the icing on the cake and sets the pattern for their married life.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Bob Milne in concert.  If he's playing anywhere in your vicinity, make it your business to go and hear him.  His ragtime piano playing has been recorded by the Library of Congress as the finest example of this type of playing.  For more on this amazing musician, check out his website: Bob Milne  .   The reason I bring him up here is that his music is the perfect backdrop for the action in the Harry Reese stories.  I could hear it playing along in my head as I was reading the adventures of Emmie and Harrison.  If you can imagine that type of music, you'll have a very good idea of the ambience this series evokes: bouncy, witty, energetic and a whole lot of fun. If I were you, I'd recommend reading this series in the order they were written, starting with Always a Cold Deck.  You'll appreciate how Harry and Emmie's relationship blossoms along the way.  More, please, Mr. Stewart!