Strange Case of the Parrot That Refused to Talk

As I near the completion of my latest fantasy novel I'm looking forward to my next project, a noir detective novel featuring a World War II era burlesque dancer famous on both sides of the Atlantic named Yvette Dare. Performing from the late 1930s until at least 1950, she had a strip tease act that featured her scarlet macaw parrot named Einstein taking off her clothes to the beat of music.

Not only was Yvette Dare a parrot person, she apparently also was a history buff and it was her reading of Greek history that supposedly gave her the idea for the act.

What a great focus for a noir novel. A World War II stripper with a parrot and a love of history. Of course, this being World War II, there will be Nazis and Nazi gold involved, and secret documents that could change the course of history.

May 16, 1939 issue of the entertainment magazine PIC, costing a whole dime!

Yvette Dare publicity shot at the 1948 World's Fair in Brussels:

Marshall Towne Mysteries: The Case of the Parrot That Refused To Talk

While cleaning out my closet I found a twenty-five year old manuscript I had completely forgotten about, the first chapter of a Seattle Noir detective novel I wanted to write back in my pre-personal computer days when I was still in graduate school. I had written the first chapter out longhand on legal paper.

Reading it over, it's surprisingly not that bad. Actually pretty darn good. When I finish Book Four of the Princess Tara Chronicles this spring I may just pick it up again and see if I can do anything with it. A detective with a parrot: