QUICK SHOTS: Hardy #5: Reunion for Death by Martin Meyers

The Hardy series was one of my first brushes of the Men's Adventure field. Which is pretty funny if you've ever read a Hardy. I stumbled upon the book on the fabled Thrilling Detective website, probably after reading a few Shell Scotts and wanting something similar but different. I do recall that they were some of my first online book purchases from eBay all those years ago. I've only ever seen one Hardy in a bookstore in my travels, which I bought to complete my set. That was luck. They seem pretty scarce, but I don't know what the demand is for them either. 

Patrick Hardy stars in, uh, Hardy #5: Reunion for Death. He's a New York private eye with a business called Trouble Ltd. He loves the ladies, lives with his big dog and has a barber chair in his living room. He used to be a fat guy but after getting shot in the stomach he slimmed down, but his weight issues take up a lot of discussion throughout the series. After he slimmed down, he got drafted but he was a coward, so the Army sent him to get hypnotic training. So, when danger appears his body takes over and he's a master of the fighting arts, even though he's scared out of his mind the whole time. Happened to all of us at one time, right?

This is a real weird series. It has more in common with something like Ted Mark's The Man from ORGY than any sort of hardboiled detective or Men's Adventure fiction. Hardy spends most of the time trying/having sex with various women throughout the books. If he's not sexing he's watching old movies on TV or eating, going to the doctor or thinking about eating or reading TV Guide. Oh, and sometimes he lazily solves a mystery or has a very-brief fistfight. 

I have no idea why I like these so much (I seem to be in the minority on the internet in this regard), but these are fun hang-out novels. I like Hardy, we have similar interests. Are his tales as thrilling or action packed as the wonderful Walter Popp covers suggest? No. No, they are not. I'm sure the bait-and-switch element is working against Hardy here, but I don't care. I like the covers AND the stories. Here Hardy's old college friends pull him into a drug smuggling ring and murders ensue. Hardy hangs out until it's all solved.

Martin Meyers was an actor and one part of Maan Meyers with his wife under which they wrote historical mysteries. He's got a light, bright and funny style. Breezy is a good word for it. Some folks liked Hardy because he popped back up in the 90s in a fun short story in Private Eyes, an anthology edited by none-other-than Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins. High Praise.

Here's a fun video from CBS mornings where they interview Martin and Annette for their collaborations. Hardy even gets a mention, as well as Martin's film work. 

If the Hardy books didn't have all the sex and the under-used "programed fighting" gimmick, settled down to be more engaging mysteries and were published in hardback I bet they would have been more successful. I'm glad they weren't. I like them just the way they are.

Your mileage may vary. 

QUICK SHOTS: Hardy #2: Spy and Die by Martin Meyers

Martin Meyers five book Hardy series is a bit of a divisive lot of books for folks. Let's be fair, the (AWESOME) covers promise a lot of action-packed Men's Adventure and the books themselves are light mysteries, so there's no truth in advertising. I discovered the books via the always compelling Thrilling Detective website when I was specifically looking for funny mystery novels after tackling a lot of Shell Scott's and Dan Turner's. But they ain't no Executioner novel. Martin Meyers only wrote the five Hardy books and the novelization to the movie "Suspect" under his name, with his wife they wrote some historical mysteries novels. 

Patrick Hardy is a guy always bordering on pudgy who a self-confessed coward. He's also a New York private eye who lives with a bunch of books, carefully skimmed TV guides for old movies, a VW Bug and a big dog named Sherlock. Also, he's the recipient of an experimental Army program that has trained his reflexes to be a highly trained hand-to-hand combatant when he's scared. If someone attacks him, he might be scared shitless, but his body simply reacts with precision fighting moves. He mostly thinks about sex, movies and food, the order isn't important, but sex pretty much always wins out. So, yeah, these a sorta smut books. Everything it super tame but sex is one of the big selling points. The action, as it were. They are the in the Carter Brown/Ted Mark mold with an obvious love of mystery fiction behind them. The whole "government experiment" thing kind of sticks out, I wonder if it was an afterthought to try to get a little bit of action without changing Hardy too much. Though it's an interesting little touch.

"Spy and Die" was one I remember particularly liking because it as an espionage angle and I'm a sucker for when private eyes do some spying. Hardy is hired by a good-looking woman ('natch) to find out about a man or may or may not be her uncle who just died and left her a big inheritance. Between late-night movies, odd culinary concoctions and trips to the doctor and various bedrooms Hardy gets embroiled in secret agent shenanigans. There's a villainous Countess who works as a spy and fashion photographer, assorted spies and goons, fairly random sex, a few fairly nice fight scenes, lots of lounging and nice and daring finale. Hardy goes out an ask's questions or send his buddy to do some investigating and such but a lot the time we hang out with him and enjoy his lifestyle. Through the Hardy books I discovered some movies I liked and fantastic authors like Manning Coles. 

Maybe folks are just jealous of Hardy when they put him down on the internet, sure the books are slight, and the plot may not hang together the best. But Hardy is engaging, and it was probably my ultimate single-post-adolescent fantasy, women, food, booze, books, old movies, a dog and being a private eye. These are goofy, caper mysteries with their tongue in their cheek. If you are in the right mind-set; you'll have fun but just don't expect a "Death Merchant" or a "Hardman" and you'll have some fun.