Thursday, August 13, 2020

Ten of the best pairs of frenemies in fiction

E. G. Scott is a pseudonym for Elizabeth Keenan and Greg Wands, two writers who have been friends for over twenty-years, and have been writing plays, screenplays, and short stories separately since they were kids. They've collaborated on multiple projects from the beginning of their friendship.

Their new novel is In Case of Emergency.

At CrimeReads they tagged ten "favorite works featuring complex relationships, shifting allegiances, and odd bedfellows galore," including:
Ezekial “Easy” Rawlins & Raymond “Mouse” Alexander
Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley

In 1940’s L.A., newly-jobless war veteran Rawlins decides to take on a P.I. gig to help him swing the mortgage payment on his house. Despite a natural proclivity toward the work, Easy quickly gets in over his head, and his hometown friend, Mouse, travels from Houston to back Easy’s play. As the investigation grows increasingly thornier, the charismatically unhinged Mouse—he of the quick tongue and the even quicker draw—comes perilously close to shooting Easy. But, hey; what’s a little gunplay between friends?
Read about another entry on the list.

Devil in a Blue Dress is among Alex Segura's nine top jazz-infused crime novels, Lori Roy's five top morality-driven thrillers, and Al Roker's six favorite crime novels.

Raymond “Mouse” Alexander, from Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series, made The A.V. Club's list of “13 sidekicks who are cooler than their heroes.”

--Marshal Zeringue