Down and Out and Delightful

As Robert Ferrigno’s serialized novella, “Double Strike,” nears the end of its run in The Seattle Times, Los Angeles writer Gary Phillips--creator of P.I. Ivan Monk--debuts another novella, this one called “The Underbelly,” at FourStory.org, an L.A. “affordable housing advocacy” Web site that also happens to carry fiction. (This may be because the editor is Nathan Walpow, author of the Joe Portugal mystery series).

The first installment of “The Underbelly” introduces us to “a semi-homeless Vietnam vet named Magrady,” who--after applying a bit of strong-arm argument in order to warn a “low rent gangster on Skid Row” called Savoirfaire away from his disabled friend, Floyd Chambers--finds himself under suspicion by the cops for Savoirfaire’s subsequent murder. The case resurrects old animosities and brings new dangers Magrady’s way, after Chambers goes missing and Phillips’ protagonist discovers a connection between him and a large-scale local development company. There’s plenty of action in “The Underbelly,” along with some welcome humor.

Phillips hopes to post a new installment of “The Underbelly” every two weeks. Read the opening episode here.