Join Books.org — it's free

Detective Fiction, Canadian Peoples & Cultures - Fiction & Literature
All Shook up: An Eddie Dancer Mystery by Mike Harrison — book cover

All Shook up: An Eddie Dancer Mystery

by Mike Harrison
Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Log in to track your reading progress.

Overview

This hard-edged, energetic mystery features Eddie Dancer—Canada's newest and toughest private eye. Two years as a city cop have convinced Eddie he is better off working for himself as a private investigator. When he is hired to track down a tough, professional bank robber, Eddie has no idea he is about to pry the lid off a very nasty can of worms. When he runs up against a pair of disgraced ex-bikers, he uncovers a macabre connection between the ex-bikers and the "fate worse than death" that has befallen many of the city's hookers—a fate that leaves them, irreversibly, in a vegetative state. Eddie learns that a man who is already in prison has carried out the bank robbery and he wonders how someone can be in two different places at once. With the help of his friend, Danny Many Guns, Eddie uncovers evidence of a major conspiracy stretching from the city's back streets and tattoo parlors to the very top of the prison system food chain. Will Danny Many Guns save his friend and partner from the "fate worse than death," or will the bad guys get their revenge on the man who has exposed them?

Synopsis

This hard-edged, energetic mystery features Eddie Dancer—Canada's newest and toughest private eye. Two years as a city cop have convinced Eddie he is better off working for himself as a private investigator. When he is hired to track down a tough, professional bank robber, Eddie has no idea he is about to pry the lid off a very nasty can of worms. When he runs up against a pair of disgraced ex-bikers, he uncovers a macabre connection between the ex-bikers and the "fate worse than death" that has befallen many of the city's hookers—a fate that leaves them, irreversibly, in a vegetative state. Eddie learns that a man who is already in prison has carried out the bank robbery and he wonders how someone can be in two different places at once. With the help of his friend, Danny Many Guns, Eddie uncovers evidence of a major conspiracy stretching from the city's back streets and tattoo parlors to the very top of the prison system food chain. Will Danny Many Guns save his friend and partner from the "fate worse than death," or will the bad guys get their revenge on the man who has exposed them?

Library Journal

After two bank robbers complain separately that the other has stolen his share of the heist, PI Eddie Dancer is intrigued enough to set up a meeting. The trio quickly determine that a third person staged the whole event-a man who's still in prison. In order to find how this could be, Dancer follows tenuous clues that lead him to cons, ex-con bikers, hookers, and bad guys who drug hookers. Like Robert Parker's Spenser, Dancer is tough and gutsy, exhibits a wry sense of humor, and uses the help of a sidekick, in this case Danny Many Guns. This Canadian series debut is essential reading. Harrison lives in Okotoks, Alberta. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Mike Harrison

Mike Harrison is a former journalist and freelance investigator. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Library Journal

After two bank robbers complain separately that the other has stolen his share of the heist, PI Eddie Dancer is intrigued enough to set up a meeting. The trio quickly determine that a third person staged the whole event-a man who's still in prison. In order to find how this could be, Dancer follows tenuous clues that lead him to cons, ex-con bikers, hookers, and bad guys who drug hookers. Like Robert Parker's Spenser, Dancer is tough and gutsy, exhibits a wry sense of humor, and uses the help of a sidekick, in this case Danny Many Guns. This Canadian series debut is essential reading. Harrison lives in Okotoks, Alberta. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A hard-boiled shamus done Canadian style. Nurse Cindy Palmer, of the big heart and "incredibly slim hips," says Calgary ex-cop Eddie Dancer, is clearly "one of the good guys." Cindy meets Eddie when he turns up at Rockyview Hospital shepherding a comatose, underage hooker. Cindy sees a sad but obvious case of substance abuse. Eddie demurs. He thinks young Angie's condition is somehow connected to a pair of thuggish tattoo-artists named Len and Doug, and he's right. Len and Doug are the tip of an iceberg of conspiracies run out of the Barbary, Calgary's hardest-time prison. Though fast-talking, fast-shuffling Eddie is one of those gumshoes who'd rather score a wisecrack than win the lottery, he can usually take care of himself-but not this time. Up against vicious, venal Jackson Varney, the warden from hell, he soon realizes that he's in over his head. Fortunately, he's not alone. If Spenser has Hawk, Eddie has Danny Two Guns, and neither has yet seen the day when a bottom-feeder, or an army of them, couldn't be eaten for breakfast. A lively first novel, even if Harrison isn't quite up to all that Robert B. Parker stuff. Author tour; ad campaign through LPG's Joy Read Canada program

Book Details

Published
May 1, 2005
Publisher
Ecw Press
Pages
235
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781550226881

More by Mike Harrison

Similar books