Chapter 3: Merry Christmas, Mr. Heller
About the series ...
TRUE NOIR: The Assassination of Anton Cermak is a fully-immersive audio series adapted from the mystery novel TRUE DETECTIVE by Max Allan Collins.
The drama is set in Chicago at the end of the Prohibition Era (in the early 1930s) and tells the story of private eye Nathan Heller as he tracks down a political assassin. Mayor Anton Cermak was in a nearly constant power struggle with organized crime, business tycoons, and corrupt politicians … leaving plenty of suspects.
New episodes appear every Friday through February 28, 2025.
Newly-minted private detective, Nathan Heller, runs three minutes late for his lunch with his uncle Louis and a distinguished guest, only to find out it’s just the first in a series of events with razor-thin margins of error. Is Heller up to the challenge?
A little more about this episode …
Award-winning author, Max Allan Collins, shares some insights into his research process and why not every character he researches is a “household name” nearly a century later. That’s just one of several topics Max covers as he discusses historical events and characters found in the episode “Merry Christmas, Mr. Heller.”
Take a closer look at this chapter with Max’s exclusive History Behind The Mystery series of videos.
Check out more episodes of this series ...
Chapter 8: Too Long At The Fair
Heller watches a capacity crowd celebrate the opening of the Chicago World’s Fair. Little does he know he’s standing at the crossroads of his two biggest cases – and things are about to take an unexpected turn.
Chapter 7: Trial Run
Just three days after Chicago Mayor Cermak dies from an assassin’s bullet, the Bayfront Park Shooter is tried for attempted murder on four counts and sentenced to eighty years. But Heller knows there’s more to the story than a lunatic with a gun.
Chapter 6: Welcome to Miami, Mr. President
Chicago Mayor Cermak hopes to curry favor with President-Elect Franklin Roosevelt at a political rally in Miami’s Bayfront Park. But among the spectators is a hitman sent by a Chicago mob boss – and only Heller can stop him.
Chapter 5: Tower Town and Magic City
Heller waits in the Dill Pickle Club to meet his new client, Mary Ann Beame – she’s a girl with a fist full of cash, a mysterious past, and plenty of dark secrets to share with the right guy.