What has six legs,
black stripes and kills people? A homicidal magician and the biggest tiger in
his world-famous show. Murder will be hard to prove, though, because the dead
guy never existed, all the evidence seems to have been eaten, and the victim’s
corpse isn’t the only thing that has disappeared. When Maureen O’Brien suddenly
vanishes, P.I. Blake Ervansky learns about her shocking former life, a past he
doesn’t think he can live with. Then, before he can tell her their partnership
is over, a call from a client in hysterics reveals that a recently solved case
has come messily unsolved. Putting aside their own differences, Maureen and
Blake circumvent a corrupt sheriff and draw closer to the truth, until Blake
winds up in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in which he’s the mouse, and the cat
outweighs him by 400 pounds. It’s a cage match he won’t survive unless the
skills Maureen learned in her dark past can neutralize the killer before Blake
becomes cat chow.
Murder: Take Two (Murder
Mystery)
By April Kelly & Marsha
Lyons
Flight Risk Books
ISBN #978-0615645348
Price $14.95
396 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
"Fast-Paced, Easy Reading, With Fascinating Characters"
Ex police detectives Blake Ervansky & Maureen O’Brien are now working as private investigators at their E&O Investigations in Hollywood, when Maureen suddenly disappears. Her father tells Blake not to worry, she will be back, but can’t tell him where she is. Upon her return Blake learns that his partner was involved as an assassin with the CIA before coming to work in the BHPD, and this worries him. What is he doing working with a trained government assassin? But her background just might come in handy with their current assignment. E&O is hired by a rich entertainer from Nevada to find her missing husband, who she suspects has been murdered by his magician partner.
Ex police detectives Blake Ervansky & Maureen O’Brien are now working as private investigators at their E&O Investigations in Hollywood, when Maureen suddenly disappears. Her father tells Blake not to worry, she will be back, but can’t tell him where she is. Upon her return Blake learns that his partner was involved as an assassin with the CIA before coming to work in the BHPD, and this worries him. What is he doing working with a trained government assassin? But her background just might come in handy with their current assignment. E&O is hired by a rich entertainer from Nevada to find her missing husband, who she suspects has been murdered by his magician partner.
Setting up camp is Madison, Nevada, where the magician
has his compound with the caged tigers from his act, the investigators quickly
learn that the killer has the sheriff and town in his pocket, and if they are
going to prove their client’s husband was murdered, they will have to come up
with a little magic of their own.
This is the second novel in the Ervansky & O’Brien
series, and proves that the authors weren’t a one-hit wonder. This second
novel, filled with intrigue and humor, takes up where the first novel left off.
The prose is fast-paced, easy reading, with imaginative characters, and great
plot. With no chapter breaks, it’s a reading marathon, as the reader hates to
put the book down until the final page – and it’s almost 400 pages in length!
The writing is humorous, while the dialogue is realistic, though the reader
must keep in mind that this is Hollywood, where things might not be like they
are elsewhere. I got a real kick out of
the scene where Maureen’s father breaks out in song with a waitress, like some
Hollywood musical. Highly recommended for mystery fans, and any lover of
entertainment.
Tom Johnson
Detective Mystery Stories
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