That Old Dead Magic

That Old Dead Magic (#12 in the Rat Pack Mystery Series) by Robert J. Randisi    360 pages

I look forward to the release of each new Rat Pack Mystery Series. It’s a lot of fun to journey back to the 1960s when Las Vegas was not a place for the kiddos and all the lights hid more than they showed.

Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joe and Peter had lit up the Strip when their Summit came to town to appear at the Sands Hotel.  The crowds loved and adored the guys’ act. But now it is 1965, and the Summit is losing its audience. The guys, and the Sands’ management, believe that people are getting tired of the same old act. Frank and Dean are even performing at other hotels.

But the Sands pit boss, Eddie G is still the man to know; the man who can get things done.  So when Sammy Davis, Jr., asks for help because he thinks legendary comic Jerry Lewis is going to kill somebody, Eddie G comes to the rescue.  Eddie G never cared much for Jerry’s comedy; he didn’t get it, but when one of the guys asks, he does what he can to help.

Jerry isn’t the loveable goofball he comes across as on stage. He’s a very, very serious fellow who scowls more than he smiles. And his temper is almost as legendary as his comic ability.

While Jerry stews at the Sands about blackmail and kidnapping, Eddie G is also helping out his PI buddy, Danny Bardini, who is working on a sex-trafficking case. He even agrees to let Danny use one of the Sands waitresses as bait.

To round the picture out, a Rat Pack Mystery wouldn’t be complete without Big Jerry Epstein, a Brooklyn-man with an appetite as big as his body. Jerry E will do whatever it takes to protect Mr. G, Danny, and the guys.

As Randisi writes more and more of these mysteries, the guys seem to drift further and further into the background.  Still, the stories are a lot of fun: the heyday of the Strip, the mob, the girls, the money, and the booze light up the casinos as they don’t seem to be able to do these days. As the bodies piled up, I sank further and further into 1965 until I did not want to come back to 2020.

It may not be high literature, but it is high stakes fun. “That Old Dead Magic” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.