More on Etta Kohn, the retired crime beat reporter appearing for the first time in A Farewell to Arfs, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be seeing her again in the Chet and Bernie series. WTAFP, an old friend of the blog, suggested I got the name Etta from Etta James – a singer I love, but that wasn’t it. I mostly just wanted an old-fashioned sort of name. If any, the influence came from Etta Place, what with the western outlaw angle and all.

“Do you still keep that index?” Bernie said.
“AZ Desperados A to Z?” said Etta. “I do, but now it’s just a hobby.”
“We’re looking for someone.”
“You must have contacts at Valley PD,” Etta said. “Rick Torres? Lou Stine?”
Bernie gazed at her and said nothing.
“Bernie, Bernie, Bernie,” she said. “Still walking on the wild side.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Of course not—that’s part of the syndrome.”