Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Tabaré Alvarez

Tabaré lives in the Dominican Republic. He holds degrees from Brandeis and Southern Illinois universities.

“The Troubleshooters” will intrigue and amuse our readers in several ways. The hero, Dutch, is an ironic parody of the standard hard-boiled private eye of detective fiction: his main job has been in furniture moving; he serves only as an ad hoc investigator for a city mayor.

The Mayor is a very interesting character: he’s noted for his odd ideas... well, let’s call them hare-brained schemes. And yet by a stroke of genius he never appears on stage; the reader imagines him at the other end of telephone conversations.

The story itself is unconventional: the Mayor needs to have a case investigated. It has all the hallmarks of a standard crime mystery. But is it really one?

Dutch’s investigative partner, Mrs. Medina, is not the standard beauteous lady of pulp fiction and the large and small screens. She’s a cook in a restaurant and the Mayor’s ex-wife. The reasons for her being “ex” become quite apparent: she’s the brains in any outfit. But even the best-balanced person can take only so much weirdness.

And yet neither character becomes a counter-stereotype. Dutch is no dummy, and Mrs. Medina is no harpy. They both have a self-deprecating charm and, in the end, make a discovery that the reader can only applaud — that they’re made for each other.

Tabaré Alvarez’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Tabaré. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!