The Man with My Name

Shamus award-winner Engleman (Who Shot Longshot Sam?; Murder-in-Law) hits the ground running with this series launch that is riddled with double identities and double crosses. Chicago's Phil Moony, former firefighter and budding PI, and his wife Frankie, an aspiring novelist, are awakened at 3 a.m. by a phone call for a different Phil Moony. Another unexpected call leads Phil to a neighborhood flophouse where he discovers a corpse, beside which is an aluminum suitcase tagged with his name. After exiting carefully, case in hand, Moony discovers it contains more than 5000 vintage baseball cards. The knot of misunderstandings and aliases tightens as Phil gets more phone calls, some threatening; after he and Frankie learn that the other Moody, an ex-ballplayer with a sports card shop in the suburbs, has just died, Frankie is kidnapped. Suspects include the landlord of Phil's building, the other Moony's widow and even an ex-cop who appears to be a friend. While Phil's sleuthing tactics are doubtful and his tone too consistently flip, a brisk pace and generally crisp characterization lend promise to this premiere. (Jan.)