The Philip St. Ives series was written by Ross Thomas under the Oliver Bleeck pseudonym. I can't decide, after reading this first in the series, whether St. Ives more resembles Archie Goodwin or Dortmunder or even Stanley Hastings, probably a combination of each.

St. Ives has developed a reputation for being an honest go-between, that is, he delivers money to kidnappers, ransom demands; an intermediary who can be trusted not to rip off either party. So when a famous antique African shield is stolen from a museum and the thieves request $250,000 in small bills for its return, St, Ives is a logical choice to deliver the money.

Being an exceedingly cautious man, he decides to check out a few things, especially after the body of the security guard is found. Then the man's wife commits suicide, then we learn the museum director's husband was killed in a car accident four weeks earlier, a crooked cop who tried to horn in on the deal with St. Ives is murdered, and things get a bit complicated. Of course since they were written in the sixties, everyone needed to use a pay phone and hotel rooms were $16 a night and $250,000 was a heck of a lot of money.

It' s a good story with the conversation so reminiscent of some of my favorite characters that I will most certainly read the rest of the books in the series. ( )

An African artifact has been stolen by thieve specializing in art heists. They have offered the museum $250,000 to buy it back and want Philip St. Ives to facilitate the exchange, shield for money. Philip is a character so real-to-life with hangups just like the rest of us. What is not so alike is his occupation. He is a self professed go-between; the broken between kidnapper and ransom, blackmailer and reward, and in this case, art and buy back "fee." Philip always takes a piece of the reward as a charge for his services but he considers himself a professional mediator and refuses to take sides. He will not help the police catch the criminals and he will not commit a crime to carry out the deal (or try not to at any rate). Having said all that, it wouldn't be a thriller if something didn't go wrong with the exchange of money for the African shield. Despite its short length Bleeck packs a ton of adventure into The Brass Go-Between. ( )