Masquerade for Murder

Tip of the Fedora

Although my intent is not exactly to create a historical mystery, I do attempt to place this novel (and others in this series) in the context of when Mickey Spillane wrote the material I worked from, and at what point in the Hammer canon this story appears.

To provide a background at least somewhat consistent with reality, I leaned upon Internet research. Among articles used for this purpose in Masquerade for Murder are: “Bellevue: The Best and Worst of America,” Aaron Rothstein, Public Discourse; “Best Film Locations in NYC,” New York Film Academy; “The Champagne City,” Michael Shnayerson, Vanity Fair/Hive; “Five Fatal Punches,” Sean Culver, SCI Fighting; “How to Make a Prosthetic Mask,” Daniel Hayek, Vimeo; “Ivan Boesky and the End of the ’80s Wall Street Boom,” Peter Grant, New York Daily News; “’90s Anthem: So Many Gyms, So Little Time,” Jennifer Steinhauser, New York Times; “NoHo’s Cinderella Moment,” Aileen Jacobson, New York Times; “One Street at a Time: Gansevoort Street,” Michael Cunningham, New York Times Magazine; “Secret Karate ‘Death Blow,’” The Indulgent Samurai; and the “Tunnel (Night Club)” entry at Wikiwand. Thanks to these writers and websites, and to others whose work I utilized in a more passing way.

My continuing thanks to Titan Books publisher Nick Landau, co-owner Vivian Cheung, and their editorial staff, in particular Andrew Sumner, who stepped up when he was needed; my gratitude to all of them for continuing to pursue the Mickey Spillane Legacy Project. The enthusiastic response to the Spillane Centenary-labelled publications in 2018 and ’19, from the media and readers alike, was gratifying to those of us who consider the writer (he abhorred the term “author”) a major figure in tough crime and mystery fiction.

Toward that end, Mrs. Mickey Spillane — Jane Spillane — continues to make these efforts possible. My wife, writer Barbara Collins, continues her stellar work as in-house editor, always tempering criticism with praise (you have been spared a phrase I wrote, and cut, after she wrote “Yikes!” in the margin).

Finally, my longtime friend and agent Dominick Abel continues to be indispensable where his clients Mickey and Max are concerned.