Jimmy Plush, Teddy Bear Detective

Jimmy Plush, Teddy Bear Detective by Garrett Cook

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Charlie Hatbox used to be a pulp writer before he switched bodies with a teddy bear named Jimmy Plush to pay off his gambling debts. Now, he's a hardboiled teddy bear detective.


Mr. Plush, Detective: Who's helping Vic Halperin from the shadows and putting more and more Furry prostitutes on the street? That's what Jimmy Plush wants to know!

Mr. Plush, Detetective, does a good job of introducing Jimmy Plush and his world to the reader. All the world-building you need is in the first few paragraphs. From there, it's a love letter to the pulps, from Jimmy Plush's hardboiled demeanor, to his ass-kicking chinese chaffeur, to Vic Halperin, the Pale Peril.

The weirdness level is pretty high, due to the Furry henchmen and Jimmy Plush being stuffed with fur, but it still feels like a noir tale.

Mr. Plush and the Dead Horse: JImmy Plush's streak of bad luck continues when a horse cop is killed on his doorstep. Who killed Horskowitz and is Jimmy Plush next?

Jimmy Plush continues looking for answers and continues having the stuffing shot out of him. The weirdness bar was raised a few notches in this story.

Jimmy Plush and Mittens O'Hara in Zuvembie Soiree: Jimmy Plush's case takes him to a party at the mayor's house. Too bad it's crawling with drooling idiots...

Jimmy Plush vs. the zombies. That's about all you have to know.

Mr. Plush and the Chief Inspector: In his continuing quest to figure out who's behind all of the evil in Nero City, Jimmy Plush goes up against the police and a mob boss the size of a city block.

The violence and weirdness get turned up a couple notches in this one. There are cannibal cops and a mountain of a mob bass named Townsquare Vanzetti.

Jimmy Plush in The Tomb of the Martian Pharoah: Jimmy Plush's hunt for archnemesis comes to a bloody conclusion in the sands of Egypt and beyond...

Wow. This was easily my favorite story in the book. It's as if Garrett Cook focused all of his pulp love that wasn't dedicated to noir and The Shadow into this one. It's part Doc Savage, part John Carter of Mars, and all Jimmy Plush.

The weirdness is off the chart in the final story. After climbing a giant turtle, Plush gets swallowed by Townsquare Vanzetti and explores the realm inside his stomach. From there, it gets a little strange...

Jimmy Plush in The Tomb of the Martian Pharoah is a more than satisfying conclusion to the tale of Jimmy Plush and Charlie Hatbox. If you love pulp and all things bizarre, you'll love Jimmy Plush, Teddy Bear Detective.



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