The Problem of the Straton Murder

During a discussion regarding whether or not a detective's seemingly cold and detached nature is necessary in solving a crime, a strange case from the past is brought back to light: a case which on first glance seemed to be simple and obvious instead turned out to be rather unique and complex in its own right and showed that, ultimately, the road to Hell is truly paved with good intentions...Woody Allen has forever fascinated me as a friend, a mentor and a colleague. He is a humor writer par excellence whom I spoke with when I was 14, during a radio call-in show about the Holocaust. The next day, he sent me a two page letter, stating that he thought I should pursue a career in show business. I kept and treasured this handwritten, signed missive for years. Later on, he sent me another document, a book length "love letter" of sorts, where he told me about his life and what he thought I should be doing with mine. It contained an imaginary "duel" with Malcolm X - which Woody necessarily won!He was the main crush in my intellectual life, all through my teenage years. His Madison Ave., NYC humor writing career burgeoned, ballooned and grew, and we continued to correspond in writing, keeping tabs on each other. I considered him to be my Manhattan Jewish Rabbi, along with Jerry Lewis, who imitated my special midnight backflip once on camera. Jerry and I have worked extensively with seriously disabled adults and children, such as boys with muscular dystrophy. I worked for a man for several years who has both MD and cerebral palsy, as his certified nurse aide for in-home care.This is the first in a series of books compiling the short stories I've written over the past twelve or more years. Many of them were inspired by the works of Woody Allen, and the last story in this book was ghostwritten with some assistance from him. I am a book ghostwriter and editor of long standing, and these "tall tales" reflect a variety of different genres, including both fiction and nonfiction, which I wrote either for practice or in order to improve my own writing. Original, suspenseful epics; gripping, humorous, including horror, science fiction, narrative nonfiction, and a host of other topics as perceptively descriptive stories, which should help you perceive the Universe in a whole new intrinsically original and realistic baleful light.