More of my ebooks: Lighthearted mysteries

"Mystery readers: I never miss a Julius Katz mystery. A great series. Simply the best." David Kanell, owner of Kingdom Books, Waterford Vermont, specializing in mysteries and crime novels.

My Julius Katz mystery stories and novel are very different from my crime novels. They're certainly not cozies, just as Nero Wolfe and Sherlock Holmes books aren't cozies, but the stories were written for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine so there's no profanity (unlike PARIAH which has possibly more profanity per page than any other crime novel!), there's no sex, and there's minimal onscreen violence--and the little that's there is bloodless. What drives these stories is the relationship between the brilliant and eccentric (and lazy) Julius Katz and his assistant, Archie, as well as humor. I think it's safe to say that Archie, who narrates these stories, is one of the more unusual detective sidekicks in the annals of the mystery genre.

JULIUS KATZ MYSTERIES is made up of the first two stories in this series, and as the cover states, my novella, JULIUS KATZ, ended up winning the Shamus Award for best PI story, as well as the Derringer Award for best novella, and ARCHIE'S BEEN FRAMED won Ellery Queen's Reader's Choice Award (as well as being cited by Publisher's Weekly as the best story in the best mysteries of the year collection, THE INTERROGATOR AND OTHER CRIMINALLY GOOD FICTION). Timothy Hallinan, author of THE QUEEN OF PATPONG, said of JULIUS KATZ MYSTERIES: "I love these stories." This ebook is available for $2.99.

I wrote the full-length novel JULIUS KATZ AND ARCHIE after ARCHIE'S BEEN FRAMED. Paul Levine, author of FLESH & BONES, said of this book: "It's a nifty change-of-pace for the usually hard-boiled Dave Zeltserman. Clever, sophisticated and witty, Julius Katz and Archie will thrill fans of Nero Wolfe...and readers who never heard of him! Zeltserman knows how to mix character, action, and plot and create a pitch-perfect, modern mystery. More, Sir! The sooner the better." Edgar-award winning author Naomi Hirahara said: "Fans of Donna Andrews's Turing Hopper artificial intelligence mysteries, rejoice! Award-winning author Dave Zeltserman has created silicon chip Archie, the high-tech sidekick to Julius Katz, Boston's most famous and laziest wine-drinking detective. Here is a delightful traditional mystery that follows in the footsteps of Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey series." JULIUS KATZ AND ARCHIE is available for $4.50.

This collection has my 3rd Julius Katz story published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, ONE ANGRY JULIUS AND ELEVEN BEFUDDLED JURORS, as well as five other crime stories. I'll talk more about this one when I talk about my short story collections, but this is available for $3.25.

Will there be more Julius Katz stories? Yep. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine recently published ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE, and has also bought my 5th Julius Katz story, JULIUS ACCUSED for future publication. A 6th story has also been written.