{"id":7452,"date":"2016-11-19T19:28:55","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T19:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?page_id=7452"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:58:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:58:57","slug":"about-the-perfect-triple-threat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-dakota-stevens-mystery-series\/about-the-perfect-triple-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"About The Perfect Triple Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>THEY\u2019RE BACK. Dako\u00adta Stevens, the tough, wise\u00adcrack\u00ading New York pri\u00advate eye, and his \u201cWatson\u201d\u2014brilliant chess grand\u00admas\u00adter Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Per\u00adfect Triple Threat<\/strong><\/em>, the 4th<\/sup> install\u00adment in the crit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly acclaimed Dako\u00adta Stevens Mys\u00adtery Series by Chris Orcutt, fea\u00adtures three novel\u00adla-length mys\u00adter\u00adies that occur before or between the nov\u00adels.<\/p>\n

In this mys\u00adtery tril\u00ado\u00adgy, Man\u00adhat\u00adtan PI Dako\u00adta Stevens and his \u201cWat\u00adson\u201d Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh solve cas\u00ades in the Green Moun\u00adtains of Ver\u00admont; Dutchess Coun\u00adty, New York; and the mean and glam\u00adorous streets of L.A., tan\u00adgling with chain\u00adsaw artists, sev\u00aden-foot tall Native Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, motor\u00adcy\u00adcle gangs, ex-cons, crooked cops, nude celebri\u00adties, and Chi\u00adnese gang\u00adsters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Adven\u00adture of the Babysit\u00adting Detec\u00adtives\u201d<\/strong>: While car\u00ading for a friend\u2019s boys over Colum\u00adbus Day week\u00adend, besides learn\u00ading that child\u00adcare is not<\/em> easy, Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana find a num\u00adber of mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous items in the woods and uncov\u00ader a con\u00adspir\u00ada\u00adcy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mys\u00adtery of the Van\u00adish\u00ading Greenskeep\u00ader\u201d<\/strong>: A num\u00adber of bizarre inci\u00addents at a Mill\u00adbrook area golf course, cul\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading in the dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00adance of the head greenskeep\u00ader, prompts the club\u2019s man\u00adag\u00ading pro to call in Dako\u00adta to inves\u00adti\u00adgate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Case of the Fake Real\u00adi\u00adty TV Show\u201d<\/strong>: A Hol\u00adly\u00adwood stu\u00addio exec\u2019s daugh\u00adter is arrest\u00aded for an armed jew\u00adel heist, but she claims it was only the pilot of a new real\u00adi\u00adty TV series. Trou\u00adble is, her fel\u00adlow cast mem\u00adbers and the pro\u00adduc\u00aders are gone and can\u2019t cor\u00adrob\u00ado\u00adrate her sto\u00adry. Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana must team up with the head of stu\u00addio secu\u00adri\u00adty, sexy Barb Soames, to prove the girl\u2019s inno\u00adcence.<\/p>\n

Buy: <\/strong><\/span>Ama\u00adzon<\/a> | Google Play<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpt from The Perfect Triple Threat<\/i><\/h1>\n

I rocked in the rock\u00ading chair, sipped my cof\u00adfee and admired the panoply of reds, oranges, golds and rus\u00adsets on the dis\u00adtant moun\u00adtain\u00adside. Across the yard, at the tree\u00adline where the boys had run into the woods, the breeze rus\u00adtled the birch\u00ades and poplars, rain\u00ading down yel\u00adlow leaves on the lawn. Every now and then the met\u00adal detec\u00adtors beeped and squealed in the woods.<\/p>\n

The glass door slid open behind me and Svet\u00adlana came out with a steam\u00ading mug of cof\u00adfee. She was dressed in full autumn regalia: brown suede jack\u00adet, cream cash\u00admere sweater, scarf, short tweed skirt, knee-high stock\u00adings and boots. She looked like a mod\u00adel in the fall fash\u00adion issue of Vogue<\/i>. I whis\u00adtled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, nice out\u00adfit. But I\u2019m a lit\u00adtle wor\u00adried about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWor\u00adried? How?\u201d She cupped her hands around the mug and blew.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m wor\u00adried we\u2019re going to walk into some gen\u00ader\u00adal store today,\u201d I said, \u201cwhere a bunch of old timers are sit\u00adting around a crack\u00ader bar\u00adrel, and you\u2019re going to give them all heart attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a smirk, she sat in the rock\u00ading chair next to mine, pinched her knees togeth\u00ader and sipped her cof\u00adfee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is a crack\u00ader bar\u00adrel any\u00adway?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeats me. A bar\u00adrel of crack\u00aders maybe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho would eat a bar\u00adrel of crack\u00aders? That can\u00adnot be right.\u201d She scanned the mead\u00adow and the hill\u00adside down to the trees. \u201cWhere are our young charges?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the woods, find\u00ading arrows,\u201d I said. \u201cHow did your chess les\u00adson with them go last night?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite well, I think,\u201d she said. \u201cAlthough nei\u00adther shows much inter\u00adest in chess. They seem to pre\u00adfer video games and out\u00addoor sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, about the chess\u2014I think they\u2019re only doing it because they\u2019re hot for teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

She blinked sev\u00ader\u00adal times. \u201cExcuse me\u2026\u2018hot for teacher\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Van Halen song \u2018Hot For Teacher\u2019? The 1984 album?\u201d<\/p>\n

She closed her eyes and shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI forget\u2014you didn\u2019t grow up here,\u201d I said. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have time for rock bands and songs about guys attract\u00aded to their female teach\u00aders. You were too busy play\u00ading chess and learn\u00ading how to be a young Com\u00admie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, \u2018hot for teacher\u2019 or not,\u201d she said, \u201cthey are adorable\u2014bright, curi\u00adous and good-look\u00ading. And you know I loathe most chil\u00addren. Espe\u00adcial\u00adly the ones their age.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

A deli\u00adcious breeze washed over us and float\u00aded down the hill, fol\u00adlowed by a lan\u00adguorous moment of bliss\u00adful peace and silence. It was one of those few moments that makes all the trou\u00adble of own\u00ading a prop\u00ader\u00adty worth\u00adwhile, and I wished Ryan and Nina could be here to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Then, in the next instant, the qui\u00ades\u00adcence was destroyed by a pierc\u00ading shriek from the trees. Birds scat\u00adtered from the tree\u00adtops.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God!\u201d James shout\u00aded. \u201cOh my God!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Jack shrieked. Svet\u00adlana and I looked at each oth\u00ader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe joys of par\u00adent\u00ading,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPre\u00adcise\u00adly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

We put down our cof\u00adfees and ran for the woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack?! James?!\u201d I shout\u00aded. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver here!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why is The Perfect Triple Threat<\/em> a collection of three novellas?<\/h1>\n

I love writ\u00ading nov\u00adels, but they require triathlon-lev\u00adel endurance, and if they\u2019re mys\u00adter\u00adies, they need to be based on big<\/em> ideas. This trans\u00adlates to a lot dis\u00adparate parts that all have to fit togeth\u00ader, and it\u2019s this \u201cfit\u00adting togeth\u00ader\u201d stuff that is the most exhaust\u00ading part of the mys\u00adtery-writ\u00ading process. Novel\u00adlas can be based on small\u00ader ideas, small\u00ader mys\u00adter\u00adies, and yet they allow for more atmos\u00adphere, more descrip\u00adtion, and deep\u00ader char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adi\u00adza\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

Some of my favorite works of fic\u00adtion are novel\u00adlas or long sto\u00adries includ\u00ading John Stein\u00adbeck\u00ad\u2019s Of Mice and Men<\/em>, Phillip Roth\u2019s Good\u00adbye, Colum\u00adbus<\/em>, and Stephen King\u2019s Rita Hay\u00adworth and the Shaw\u00adshank Redemp\u00adtion<\/em>. In the mys\u00adtery realm, I have adored Doyle\u2019s Sher\u00adlock Holmes sto\u00adries and novels\u2014especially the longer sto\u00adries \u201cThe Naval Treaty\u201d and \u201cA Scan\u00addal in Bohemia.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How are the stories in The Perfect Triple Threat<\/em> different from those of the first three novels?<\/h1>\n

The major dif\u00adfer\u00adence is that the three cas\u00ades are \u201csmall\u00ader\u201d and less intri\u00adcate than the ones in the nov\u00adels. I meant for these cas\u00ades to be exam\u00adples of the ones that Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly get between their \u201cbig\u201d cas\u00ades.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s next on the horizon for Dakota and Svetlana?<\/h1>\n

I have admired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s Sher\u00adlock Holmes sto\u00adries since I was a young boy. In fact, those sto\u00adries are what inspired me to start writ\u00ading the adven\u00adtures of Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana almost 15 years ago. I plan to write a col\u00adlec\u00adtion of mys\u00adtery short sto\u00adries about Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana in the vein of Holmes and Wat\u00adson. This is like\u00adly to take quite some time, espe\u00adcial\u00adly since I want every sto\u00adry in the col\u00adlec\u00adtion to be a pol\u00adished gem.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THEY\u2019RE BACK. Dako\u00adta Stevens, the tough, wise\u00adcrack\u00ading New York pri\u00advate eye, and his \u201cWatson\u201d\u2014brilliant chess grand\u00admas\u00adter Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh. The Per\u00adfect Triple Threat, the 4th install\u00adment\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":2835,"menu_order":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7452","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7452"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9989,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7452\/revisions\/9989"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}