Popped Off-Jeffrey Allen

Popped Off


Jeffrey Allen

Kensington, Sep 4 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780758266903



In very conservative Rose Petal, Texas everyone remains up to date on scandals, misdemeanors and felonies. However the biggest shocker to the appalled townsfolk remains teacher Deuce Winters who has become a stay at home dad taking care of their five years old daughter Carly while his wife Julianne is the breadwinner high powered attorney. Despite eyebrow-raising by their appalled neighbors, Deuce and Julianne are very satisfied with their relationship. Additionally the househusband has become a part-time private eye ever since brilliant detective Victor "little person" Doolittle conducted surveillance of Deuce (see Stay At Home Dead).



At a soccer game gigantic Belinda Stansfield informs Deuce, coach of the Mighty, Fightin’ Tiny Mermaids girls’ team, that the president of the Rose Pedal Youth Soccer Association Moises “King of Soccer” Huber stole the funds and trophies earmarked for the kids like Carly. Belinda demands Deuce find the missing money and trophies. Deuce consults with Victor and persuades the experienced detective to help him with the investigation. Their inquiry leads to a crooked preacher and a fixed gambling ring as Deuce insists that Moises and his cousin Elliot as his return the loot though the stay at home dad prefers to avoid injuries as that hurts and death as that is unknown.



The second small-town Texas Stay at Home Mysteries is an amusing cozy due to the residents of Rose Pedal to include little Victor and big Belinda. The short opening soccer match is hilarious while setting the tone of a jocular investigation. Though most locals think Deuce is weak as a househusband, he is resolute as he has no qualms with his marital relationship and with confronting problems of others.



Harriet Klausner

Prudence Couldn't Swim- James Kilgore

Prudence Couldn't Swim


James Kilgore

PM Press, Jun 7 2012, $14.95

www.pmpress.org

ISBN: 9781604864953



In 2003 in an exclusive Oakland, California neighborhood ex-convict Cal Winter returns home to find his beautiful much taller and younger English wife Prudence dead in their swimming pool. Though their interracial marriage of convenience never was consummated, Cal always dreamed they would one day. He realizes his wife never stepped into the water as Prudence Couldn't Swim; so someone killed her. Panicked he moves the body before returning it to where he had pulled it out of the pool. Cal calls the cops who think he murdered his spouse.



Cal calls his friend ex-convict Red Eye, to help him learn who killed Prudence. They find evidence that Prudence apparently was leaving soon and a clue that takes them to IHOP manager Mandisa who tells them that like her, Prudence came from Zimbabwe where her name was Tarisao Mukombachoto. As the pair digs deeper while the cops try to pin a murder rap on Cal and accessory on Red Eye, the pair begins to connect the convoluted life of the late Prudence with ties to the affluent who can pay big bucks for their sexual needs.



This is an exciting amateur sleuth tale as readers will want to know if Cal’s hypothesis based on the given that Prudence Couldn't Swim proves valid. Although readers will have difficulty accepting Cal’s weird treatment of Prudence’s body, fans will enjoy touring Oakland with the widower and his always bet on red partner as they land in and in and in trouble. A late coda involving a powerful individual and his wife seems so accurate in this age of remorseful pleading publically to forgive indiscretions.



Harriet Klausner

Buried on Avenue B-Peter de Jonge

Buried on Avenue B


Peter de Jonge

Harper, Jul 24 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780061373558



In 2006 in New York City, home health care provider Paulette Williamson informs the police that her current patient and a former junkie Gus Henderson confessed to her that he murdered his partner Charles Faulk seventeen years ago. Furthermore, he said he buried Faulk in the community at 6th Street and Avenue B.



Though the confession is muddled by Gus suffering from Alzheimer’s, NYPD Manhattan South Detective Darlene O'Hara digs up the plot where she finds the remains of a male tweener recently shot with a .22 in the shoulder who died from blood loss before being buried here. O'Hara places the bullet specs on the national law enforcement database; Sarasota PD Connie Wawrinka notifies O’Hara that she has a match; octogenarian Longboat Key resident Benjamin Levin used the rifle to blow out his brains six months ago. They team up trying to find the answer to how a body in the East Village connects to a death in the Gulf-Sarasota Bay.



The latest O'Hara police procedural (see Shadows Still Remain) is a great mystery starring two kick butt females. O’Hara makes the fast-paced storyline work whether she is drinking with her mostly male peers, worrying about her son, or working the strange case with an in your face partner who does not hide her sexual preference. This tale of two women cops entertains fans as we wonder what connects Buried on Avenue B with Longboat Key besides the weapon.



Harriet Klausner

Garment of Shadows-Laurie R. King

Garment of Shadows


Laurie R. King

Bantam, Sep 4 2012, $26.00

ISBN: 9780553807998



Having completed her brother-in-law’s assignment and a silent film shoot for Fflytte Films (see The Pirate’s King), Russell looks forward to seeing her husband Holmes in Morocco. However, when Holmes arrives at the rendezvous locale, his Russell is not there and has not been seen since she walked into the desert accompanied by a child several days ago; she left behind a note saying she was going to Fez.



Holmes seeks clues at the same time Russell awakens with a horrific headache in a place she does not recognize. As she ponders how she got here, Russell realizes she does not remember her name. Her gut tells her she needs to flee as she believes she is in peril; Russell starts the great escape though she has no idea where safety may be. Russell quickly learns it is 1924 and she is in Fez dressed as a man. As civil war supported by Europe seems imminent, Holmes continues his search for his spouse while Russell would never believe she is married to anyone.



Garment of Shadows is an exhilarating Russell-Holmes historical thriller as the heroine suffering from amnesia tells much of the entertaining storyline (in her memoirs) but Holmes’ viewpoint is much greater than usual. Fast-paced from the whimsical moment the man informing Holmes that Russell left town thinks the great detective has the brains of a tortoise and never decelerating, fans will enjoy this super entry with a great climax and a discerning coda that resonates today.



Harriet Klausner

Dead Ringer-Allen Wyler

Dead Ringer


Allen Wyler

A&B, Jun 26 2012, $12.99

www.astorblue.com

ISBN: 9781938231148



Seattle-based neurosurgeon Dr. Lucas McCrae is in demand as he specializes in the most difficult cases. Currently, Dr. Wong Yih-Wah invited him to provide a demonstration at Hong King’s Queen Victoria Hospital using the “fresh” head of a cadaver. Lucas begins his demo when he looks at the face staring back at him. He starts puking because he sees the head of his best friend Andy Baer.



Seattle Missing Persons Squad Police Detective Wendy Elliot investigates the disappearance of hooker Lupita Ruiz who befriended her when the cop worked vice. Her boss Redwing seems indifferent to her inquiry unless it interferes with her caseload. She visits Ditto’s Funeral Home because a vehicle illegally parked near where Lupita vanished is registered to the Medical Research center of Seattle and is owned by the funeral parlor. Soon the cop, the surgeon and Lupita’s brother the gangbanger team up as they look into the lucrative body recycling supply business that has made Ditto a fortune.



Allen Wyler’s latest medical thriller (see Dead head) is a tense suspense starring two dedicated people Sleepless in Seattle. The storyline is fast-paced from the moment Lucas stares at Andy’s head and never slows down as the two subplots deftly converge. Although a key ally in the body parts commodity exchange seems an unlikely enabler and the probability of Hong Kong is astronomical (as several characters point out), readers will relish this tense tale while wondering alongside of Lucas whether that is Andy’s head or a Dead Ringer.



Harriet Klausner

Fire Season- Jon Loomis

Fire Season


Jon Loomis

Minotaur, Jul 17 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9780312668136



While the search for a permanent police chief goes on, Provincetown, Massachusetts detective Frank Coffin serves temporarily as the cop in charge while also doing his regular job. His hope for an easy run in which he spends time with his pregnant girlfriend and deals with his Alzheimer’s inflicted mom during the non-tourist season proves false wishful thinking.



First someone kills several seals. Next Frank becomes concerned with a serial arsonist whose fires are increasingly becoming bigger and more dangerous. Finally inside the Fish Palace’s lobster tank floats a human head amongst the crustaceans. As he investigates the seal homicides, the Fire Season, the decapitated head and UFOs, Frank wishes they would select the chief already.



The latest Frank Coffin Season Mysteries (see High Season and Mating Season) is an amusing police procedural, Filled with eccentric characters (residents and visitors) and plenty of whimsical situations including UFO terror and when the hero’s mom or Uncle Rudy takes the stage, readers will enjoy Frank’s abysmal season as the acting chief.



Harriet Klausner

Creole Belle-James Lee Burke

Creole Belle


James Lee Burke

Simon & Schuster, Jul 17 2012, $27.99

ISBN: 9781451648133



In the middle of the night when visitors are not allowed, Cajun singer Tee Jolie Melton sneaks into the hospital room of New Iberia, Louisiana Deputy Sheriff Dave Robicheaux who is drugged to control his pain while he recovers from a bullet wound. Tee Jolie leaves behind an iPod filled with her music. No one else in the hospital saw the singer who vanished several months ago as everyone insists the morphine led to an illusion; though none of them can explain adequately the iPod tunes like “My Creole Belle” to Dave.



While Dave ponders what happened, Tee Jolie’s teenage sister Blue is found inside a large floating block of ice dead from a heroin overdose hidden inside her mouth is a note: "My sister is alive." Meanwhile, Bix Golightly demands Clete Purcel pay him $30,000 immediately for a gambling debt the thug bought from Frankie Giacano. However, contract killer Caruso kills Bix, his enforcer Waylon Grimes and Frankie. Clete saw Bix's murder and tells Dave that Caruso is his daughter Gretchen Horowitz. As Clete and Dave search for Tee Jolie, they are caught in the crosshairs of the Dupree brood.



The latest Dave Robicheaux mystery (see The Glass Rainbow) is a terrific thriller as James Lee Burke ties the oil spill to Nazis and more. Action-packed from the moment the Creole Belle singer visits Dave and never slowing down, fans will relish this superb regional investigation as the two buds search for Tee Jolie while struggling with what to do about their respective daughters.



Harriet Klausner