Doan & Carstairs — Norbert Davis

"If you must go down those mean streets, walk softly, but walk a big dog... "Perenially broke Doan is a short, chubby little man with corn-yellow hair who doesn't exactly look like he's going to set the world on fire. His clothes are frequently rumpled, because he tends to sleep in them, and he's been known to drink a prodigious amount of alcohol. [And] while there have plenty of dogs in mystery fiction, there's never been one quite like Carstairs. He's not just any Great Dane; he's so big that Doan only half-jokingly figures he really ought to be considered another species. He's definitely in charge, despite Doan's best efforts. ... It's fortunate, then, that as a sleuth Carstair rarely barks up the wrong tree." - Kevin Burton Smith, The Thrilling Detective Website This volume collects the first two Doan and Carstairs books: the novella Holocaust House, and the novel The Mouse in the Mountain.