Ms. Michael Tree is a ridiculous character built from the odds and ends borrowed from a Micky Spillane story. She shoots first and often and first appeared in four colors in the early eighties. Nonetheless, she feels more like a gimmick than a complete character.

Characterization issues aside, the mystery at the heart of Deadly Beloved is pretty strong for this type of work. Ms. Tree and her associates are tracking down an illusive assassin called "The Event Planner" whose assassinations look like accidents.

The cover was drawn by Terry Beatty, the original comic book artist for Ms. Tree. ( )

Ms. Tree, revisited.

To start with the end material, Collins gives an overview of how the character came into being via comic serials and issues, in a bit of a surprise - and also a tv series being declined for NYPD Blue. He mentions this is an updated take on the origin story with a few changes. The original idea for the character was apparently a bit of a gender reversal of the Mike Hammer and secretary tale.

Here, in a story told via flashbacks in a visit to her shrink, Ms. Tree details the death of her husband and partner, and an investigation a year or so later that ties into this murder.

http://superprose.blogspot.com/2008/0... ( )

I caught a radio interview last week with Christa Faust explaining why she treats her female characters the way that she does. One of the points she raised was that in crime fiction, female characters are almost always men with tits. That is very much the case with Deadly beloved. The main character, Ms. Tree (get it?) is only a woman by virtue of her accessories.

This is not great literature. I keep saying that, but I try to hold all books to the same standard, and it would be grossly unfair and patronizing to excuse genre works simply because they're genre. I've never really bought into the whole "genre=bad lit" snobbery, and see no reason to change. There have been great pieces of lit within the confines of genre, and there will be more. But this isn't one of them.

Still, this was a fun read. Collins does well in structuring the story and even though his characters might be weak and stock, they do at least fit into the story unobtrusively.

Since the cover is part of the Hard Case magic: the cover is awful. Truly awful. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: scantily dressed women are good, but in order for this to pay dividends, the manner of illustrating said women must be competent. This particular instance is not done with anything remotely approaching competence. In fact, it has a suspicious likeness to the fabled paint-by-numbers school. ( )

The first-ever Ms. Tree novel is a modernization of her origin. I loved the comic books when I was younger, and while I was a little thrown by how sexual Ms. Tree is in the book, it's relatively true to the tenor of the early comics tales. Collins does it again! ( )

Although Deadly Beloved is the first novel featuring Ms. Michael Tree she has had previous incarnations in comics and graphic novels; there was a slight sense of revisiting old ground while reading this novel, even though it was my first time with character. It didn't spoil the book, but it made for a few bumps. Mrs. Tree can be just as tough, snarky, and quick with a gun as her male counterpoints in the PI genre—that make sit a lot a fun. There are a few too many jokes about her lack of a specific piece of anatomy, but that is to be expected. The storyline is constructed a bit clunkyly: Ms. Tree telling a psychologist about a case, including flashbacks to other incidents that tie in, but there are important reasons for that structure in the end. The author leaves certain things open for possible more Ms. Tree novels. ( )