There were two main influences for “Alibi in Ice.” The first is obvious—I wanted to pay homage to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, which meant that my main sleuth, rock-star-turned-private-eye Martin Wade, had to be stuck inside (in his case, with the flu) while his assistant, Valerie Jacks, did the work in the outside world and brought it back to him helped solve the case.
Valerie is new to the series, which has run in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Tough and the Anthony-nominated Lawyers, Guns & Money anthology* since 2020, and was first introduced in the story “Wait for the Blackout” (EQMM May/June 2023). But because she is a POV character in Negative Girl, the first Wade & Jacks novel (forthcoming from Datura in September), I wanted readers to get a sense of her voice and what she brings to the agency – namely a deep knowledge of her hometown’s lore and mysteries and a pair of boxing-trained fists.
The second influence comes from the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.
Though they’re best known to most people for their 1997 hit “Zoot Suit Riot,” the Daddies have been putting out swing, ska, punk and funk records since 1990s Ferociously Stoned. Though they became the whipping boys for the swing revival backlash, the band, fronted by Steve Perry, has continued to put out music, with their latest album From the Pink Rat, released July 26th.
The band is deeply underrated and has been a huge influence on me since I first heard Zoot Suit Riot. My earliest crime stories were set to noir-ish tunes like “Brown Derby Jump,” and I was a frequent fixture at swing nights in the early 2000s. Even my clothes still honor this tradition; I’m easy to spot at a convention because of my victory rolls, crinolines and Vampire-heels.
Given that my first novel, The Big Rewind, revolved around a mix tape, and the protagonist of the Wade & Jacks series is a former rock star, it should be no surprise that music is one again a major influence on my work. In this case, the song is “The Lifeboat Mutiny,” from Ferociously Stoned, which tells the story of a girl who feels crushed by the pressures of her life, of feminine beauty, shallow friendships and self-esteem, simultaneously embracing and rejecting those expectations. She is both the betrayed and the betrayer, evidenced by the “Death mask of Judas” and identification as “the mutineer” inside the lifeboat alongside her vapid friends.
Perry, now a resident of Eugene, Oregon, also hails from the Binghamton area, where I went to college and subsequently discovered crime fiction. I find that the Daddies’ music—especially songs like “Grand Mal,” “Cosa Nostra,” “Concrete Man Blues,” and “Kids on the Street” convey an intrinsic understanding, a bloodline, even, of the scrappy, working class struggle that underpins the area, even today.
A second Daddies-influenced story, “Dr. Bones,” (also from a Ferociously Stoned track) is forthcoming in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. And I doubt it will be the last time this band has a place in Martin & Valerie’s world—they’ve been there since the beginning, and aren’t going anywhere soon.
*My story, “Charlie’s Medicine,” a Martin Wade prequel of sorts, took home the 2023 Shamus Award for Best Short Story.
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