Julius Katz, a series by Dave Zeltersman, follows the eponymous Boston-based Great Detective and is a Pastiche of the Nero Wolfe series, with Katz having many of Wolfe's mannerisms (little patience for nonsense, a love of luxury and a dislike of work, showmanship, and deductive brilliance), but being a more physically fit and outgoing man whose main vices are a drive to collect rare wines and high-stakes poker. He solves cases with the assistance of an A.I. sidekick named Archie (one of the many supporting characters named after Wolfe characters).
As of 2024, the series (which began in 2009) consists of several short stories (first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and later reprinted in Katz-centric short story collections), two novellas, and one full-length novel.
Tropes in the stories:
- Blackmail Backfire: Several stories involve blackmail victims killing their blackmailers.
- Two were Properly Paranoid enough to try and arrange for either Great Detective Julius or his assistant Archie (not knowing Archie is just an A.I. and a voice on the phone) to be present near the blackmail drop to deter any murderous plans, but in each case, the detective didn't show and the blackmailer still died.
- In "Julius and the Sliced Ham," Julius says he doesn't mind seeing the killer of a blackmailer walk free except for how the case going unsolved will ruin his best friend's investments, and tells the killer to compensate the man while denying the accusations that this makes him a blackmailer himself by saying he is simply ensuring fair compensation for what the crime cost an innocent party. Julius is lying to make the killer incriminate himself in front of hidden cops, and suspects the man was only pretending to agree to his demands and would have killed him too.
- One story has a blackmailer get murdered by her victim (a hit-and-run killer) who then finds himself being blackmailed by a witness to her murder and also kills the second blackmailer.
- Julius Katz and Archie features two blackmail backfires, one far more mundane than the other: a man who tries to blackmail a murderer into being his stooge and is killed by him, and a Caustic Critic who tries to blackmail his lover over their affair and ends up arrested for extortion.
- Bluffing the Murderer: Julius constantly tricks killers into confessing by lying about having found a piece of evidence, procured a witness, or both.
- Mistaken for Cheating:
- In "Julius Katz and a Tangled Web," the married murder victim and a coworker who has a boyfriend were seen sneaking off to a motel together. They weren't having sex, though, but instead needed a private place to conduct a secret audit to catch an embezzler.
- In "Julius Katz and the Ruined Roast," the stand-up comic victim's wife divorced him due to suspicion of adultery after he kept refusing to let her accompany him on several road trips. Actually, he had a double life as a mob courier and was afraid for her safety if she became involved in that part of his life.
- Propping Up Your Patsy: Zigzagged in "Julius Accused" when the killer vocally voices belief in Julius's innocence while sounding unsure but is bluffing and is actually planning to publicly exonerate Julius by killing their accomplice and making it look like he committed the murder and tried to frame Julius (who they know is a good enough detective to eventually prove his innocence in a straight frame job) and then committed suicide.
- Rogue Juror: In "Eleven Angry Jurors and One Befuddled Julius," Julius serves on a jury in a murder case that seems to prove the defendant's guilt definitively but, unlike his fellow jurors, picks up on signs that the man is innocent. However, rather than try to convince the other jurors, he asks the judge and lawyers to let him conduct a private Summation Gathering with the key parties. If he exposes the killer, then the case won't have to go to the jury, and if he doesn't, then he'll get booted off the jury for having formed such strong opinions and be replaced with an alternate.
- Wham Episode: "Julius Katz and the Two Cousins" ends with Julius collecting his biggest fee ever and using it to buy a vineyard, propose to his girlfriend, and retire, while giving Archie to his superspy sister to use for her investigations.
- Writing About Your Crime: In "Julius Katz and the Terminated Agent," one suspect in the murder of a literary agent is a rough-looking man who wrote a crime novel about an actual armored car robbery and murder has both the inside knowledge and amused attitude to imply that he committed the robbery and wrote a book about it when a double-crossing partner hid the money (which also turned out to be marked), and he needed a new source of income. He is indeed the surviving robber and killed the agent for trying to blackmail him into being a hitman.
