Blow Hot, Blow Cold

Cast of Characters

NANCY HOWELL — She wants to share her pitcher of gin-and-tonic, but discovers that one swallow does not make a summer

DAVID HOWELL — “Love thy neighbor” is the creed for surburban Shady Acres — David heartily subscribes to it, but his wife believes that good defenses make good neighbors

JACK RICHMOND, M.D. — This devastatingly handsome medico has a little blonde as well as a little black bag — and both are full of his secrets

VERA RICHMOND — The poor-mouse nurse who married the fabulous physician; his irregular hours don’t incense her so much as his irregular houris

LILA CONNOR — A potent tease from the top of her coif to her round heels

LARRY CONNOR — A latter-day Villon, Lila’s cuckolded fourth mate chooses a cool way out

MAE WALTERS — A battle ax no one wants to grind

STANLEY WALTERS — All tomcats are gray in the dark, but this clumsy clown wears striped pajamas

LT. AUGUSTUS MASTERS — A deceptive detective whose baggy rear view instills neither confidence in the innocent nor alarm in the guilty

CHIEF OF POLICE — As subtle as a freight train, this superannuated warrior should lay his pistol down

CORONER — Irascible but thorough, he considers examining one corpse in a night a good day’s work

RUTH BENTON — Instead of typing this sexy redhead as Connor’s secretary, Masters files her under “Mistress”

AGNES MORROW — An efficient nurse who has maintained her ethics for over forty years, but she cannot put the cap on murder

JAKE KIMBLE — An aging hawkshaw whose observations reveal how the murderer pulled a switch

LEWIS SHRILL — This nightclub operator is a scandalmonger who scavenges unsavory morsels