Seven

Koans and killings, mayhem and metaphysics, the DoubleNickel Detective stories serve up the usual mix of characters, clues and conundrums. Called 'DoubleNickel' as a boy for his thick glasses, 'Nick' as a college man, he otherwise remains without a name. This nondescript fellow is, in appearance, a brown paper sack, a mutt of mixed ancestry. His father was Japanese. His mother was Irish. He is sardonic. He drinks. He is not your gentleman sleuth. He is a private eye who lines up with the hard boiled boys. The stories present this man in a variety of situations that evoke the questions posed by Zen koans, those beguiling statements of ambiguity and mystery. The most famous koan, of course, is thought to be: What is the sound of one hand clapping? An Afterward provides both an explication of the format as well as a comment on detective stories generally.