Wake Up Little Susie

By Ed Gorman

At a car dealership's big opening day, the festivities are marred by the discovery of a corpse.

It is September 1957, and America is waiting to meet the Edsel, Ford's top-secret new automobile, whose promotional campaign has redefined the word hype. Sam McCain, lawyer, detective, and car fiend, has been dreaming of the Edsel for months. But when the sheet comes off Ford's new creation, the car is a nightmare. Pastel colored, bulky, and with a distinctively ugly grill, the Edsel draws snickers instead of applause. But in case the dealership owner's day isn't going badly enough, one of the cars has a last surprise in store: a body in the trunk.

She is the beautiful young wife of the district attorney, and Sam knows she deserved better than to end up dead in an ugly car. As the local police bungle the investigation, Sam quietly digs into the death -- and finds a secret in his city that could be even more disastrous than the Edsel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784084974

Ed Gorman

Ed Gorman's western fiction has won the Spur Award and his crime fiction has won the Shamus and Anthony Awards and has been shortlisted for the Edgar® Award. In addition, his writing has appeared in Redbook, the New York Times, Ellery Queen Magazine, Poetry Today, and other publications.

Reviews for Wake Up Little Susie

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book, but I'm not sure why:It was easy to read; I liked most of the characters; it seemed realistic & down-to-earth; no gratuitous or graphic violence; the main character (Sam McCain) was real for me and a pretty good/honest guy.It is a historical mystery centered around the new Ford Edsel; which I did not know came in so many interesting color combinations...Oh, so the storyline: Susan married her Doctor-lover who turned out to be a wife beater (the kind who knows how to make sure the damage doesn't show). She worked at the Ford dealership and was well liked around town, except for the someone who crushed her skull & dumped her body in the trunk of one of the new Edsels.Sam McCain works for the Judge who was once the top of society (she's a mean old one but is in the position to make sure justice is served).Both the Judge & McCain are continually being thwarted by the Sheriff (big, mean, & dumb-as-a-rock) who owes his job to his family taking over the town.There is the gal McCain pines for, but she pines for her doctor and there is Nancy who loves Sam and is a very good friend...I liked the book & will read the sequel