The first detective story of Julius Katz, Boston's most brilliant, eccentric, and possibly laziest detective. Assisted by Archie, a tiny marvel of computer technology with the heart and soul of a hard-boiled PI who resides in a two inch box that can be turned off at any time (AI).

Clever read, an amalgamation of other fictional detectives. ( )

In the award winning novelette “Julius Katz” the latest client for Boston’s most famous and eccentric detective Julius Katz is the 53 year old Norman Brewer. Accompanied by her slightly younger sister, Helen Arden, she wishes to discuss a family matter. A family matter she refused to tell Archie, Julius’ artificial intelligence sidekick, about over the phone thus preventing any real planning by Julius prior to their meeting.

The issue involves their 83 year old mother, Emma, who is suffering from the beginnings of Alzheimer’s. While provisions were made for various things by their father six years ago before he died from cancer, their brother Lawrence has taken over all of the legal aspects of their mother’s situation. Julius does not like family disputes and wants no part of this situation. However, like many a detective before him, he does need the money and Norma Brewer is willing to pay. He takes the case with some stipulations including meeting their mother so that he and Archie can assess her condition. While very reluctant at first, soon Julius is hard at work in a case that quickly takes a dark and sinister turn.

Also included in this book is the award winning story “Archie’s Been Framed.” As this one opens Julius has plenty of cash in the bank. That means he is not going to be inclined to take a new case for several months. What Archie sees as being lazy, Julius sees as enjoying the finer things of life. Work is not the priority for Julius, but for Archie work helps him refine his neural network.

With his current love interest Lily Rosten out of town visiting her parents in upstate New York. Julius is in a bit of a funk. A funk that a case would help lift. There is no sign of that until Archie discovers that Denise Penny, a 27 year old woman Archie has been in contact with, has been murdered. Unfortunately, Archie quickly becomes a suspect in her murder. Though he can easily be cleared if the true nature of his existence were revealed, it can’t be disclosed. Julius does not have a choice – he has to investigate and clear Archie.

Both award winning stories are good ones and feature interesting characters and cases. Humor, subtle and overt, is occasionally present in sharp contrast to the darker side of human nature. The dark side of human nature keeps many a detective and his sidekick employed and such is the case here in the very enjoyable Julius Katz Mysteries by Dave Zeltserman.

Julius Katz Mysteries
Dave Zeltserman
http://www.hardluckstories.com
Top Suspense Group
http://topsuspense.blogspot.com/
January 2011
ASIN: B004KAA9LQ
E-Book
88 Pages
$3.50

A PDF by the author was supplied quite some time ago for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014 ( )

Humorous yet perversely authentic homage to the Rex Stout stories. Marvelous idea to make Archie a small advanced computer-like entity,* acquired somehow by Julius Katz, antithesis to Nero Wolfe. He chases women and gets plenty of exercise. Not to mention he loves gambling, and that’s where Archie’s sophisticated analysis of the odds helps immeasurably. And, Julius hates to work taking only cases when the bank account gets low and his betting is off. Charming. This book contains two novellas. I hope the series continues.

*So that’s what I am, a two-inch rectangular mechanism weighing approximately one point two ounces. What’s packed inside my titanium shell includes visual and audio receptors as well as wireless communication components and a highly sophisticated neuron network that not only simulates intelligence, but learning and thinking that adapts in response to my experiences. Auditory and visual recognition are included in my packaging, which means I can both see and hear. As you’ve probably already guessed, I can also speak. When Julius and I are in public, I speak to him through a wireless receiver that he wears in his ear as if it were a hearing aid. When we’re alone in his office, he usually plugs the unit into a speaker on his desk. ( )

Underwhelming. Definitely a one joke performance. Julius Katz is a Sherlock Holmes type detective--with one advantage, an electronic sidekick named Archie that can pretty much get him any information he needs at any time. It's all too easy, and each story pretty much revolves around how Julius is even smarter than the all-knowing electronic Archie and knows exactly when to ignore his advice. This isn't a bad concept, it is just sloppily executed, with more of a focus on sort-of-humor than on constructing an engrossing mystery. ( )

Free from Kindle. Spoilers. This is amusing. Archie is a sidekick, but he is also a computer, and he is very earnest. Kinda like Data. The detective is a cypher, and hard to like, although it is nice that he falls in love.