I’ll freely admit that the podcast train passed me by long ago. I have several good explanations for how that happened, but it’s not important for this review. Suffice to say I stumbled across Dash: The Case of the Mysterious Zita Makara, somehow, somewhere, earlier this year couldn’t be more pleased and entertained by this supernatural noir radio play series. 

Because I’ve only heard the Dash podcast, I’ll limit my remarks to that medium. The podcast story is based on a graphic novel by the same name, available from Northwest Press. 

Ripped from the pages of the hit indie comic book, this weekly podcast is a reimagined queer take on a classic genre that’s a blend of noir, horror, and mystery.   

Spotify

In 1940 Los Angeles, Dashiell “Dash” Malone is an openly gay, not very successful private investigator. Dash’s boyfriend is hiding something, a beautiful dame has a mysterious problem, and something is very wrong with that traveling Egyptian display at the museum. And…Nazis. 

A Classic Genre Podcast

The hard-boiled private investigator (PI) is a classic storytelling icon. The noir mystery, so named for the brooding shadows of 1940s black-and-white films like The Maltese Falcon, is their natural environment. As a literary genre, we see the hard-boiled PI story emerge post WWI in the writings of Dashiell Hammett, and can follow the trail through Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, Mikey Spillane, Sara Paretsky, and many other writers. Dash certainly echoes the vibe of Joseph Hansen’s LA-based, openly gay insurance investigator, Dave Brandstetter. But with monsters.

This podcast is truly an old-timey radio play, a perfect medium for its subject matter. The casting of performers is dead-on, from Jim Diamond’s sonorous announcer to Sara Luciano’s wisecracking girl Friday, and, of course, Peter Zielinski’s tough, yet conflicted, PI, Dash Malone. Music and sound effects heighten the dramatic story, which is a wonderful mash-up of a classic noir whodunit and monster movies.

Advice

I listened to Dash via my phone’s speaker and found the sound a bit uneven. Apparently, one should know to listen through a headset. (As mentioned earlier, I’m not actually a podcast person.)

Fans of old movie mysteries, supernatural spookiness, and great performances of witty dialogue who also like to see vexing social issues dragged out into the daylight will enjoy this story.

The places the podcast is available can be found here.

If you found Dash interesting, you might enjoy reading my review of Mystery Genre Stories.

Click here to order The Big Cinch, new, award-winning supernatural noir novel from Kathy L. Brown.

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