GOOD EVENING, MR. TIBBS – As promised, I recently obtained a copy of author John Ball’s final story featuring his iconic African American homicide detective Virgil Tibbs. Yes, THAT Virgil Tibbs, introduced in the 1965 novel and 1966 movie In the Heat of the Night.
Roughly ten days back I reviewed John Ball’s subsequent novels and short stories about the brilliant and coolly professional Virgil Tibbs. This final short story, Good Evening, Mr. Tibbs, followed the 1986 Tibbs novel Singapore.
Unlike that novel, this tale depicts Virgil in his home territory of Pasadena, California. (It was only in the movies that Tibbs worked in Philadelphia and San Francisco.) In the middle of the night a woman’s dead body is found in the center of the street. Circumstances prompt a call to bring in Pasadena’s senior Homicide Detective – our man Virgil. Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the forgotten (or at least neglected) novels and short stories which John Dudley Ball wrote about his fictional detective. I am amazed that no one adapted the other Virgil Tibbs novels in the 70s, 80s or 90s. He is up there with other American detectives like Sam Spade, Nero Wolfe, Moses Wine and more. 
VORTEX (1982) – Written and directed by Beth B and Scott B, this independent sci-fi detective film starred cult figure Lydia Lunch and actor James Russo. This is one of those movies made with so little money – some of it from the National Endowment for the Arts – that it can’t really be held to the same standards as mainstream releases of its time. 
THE THIN MAN (1934) – Mystery writer Dashiell Hammett’s final novel, The Thin Man, introduced former private detective Nick Charles and his wealthy socialite wife Nora. After marrying Nora, Nick left detective work in order to manage her business interests. 
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