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PIs Brew Axebewer and Ginny Fistoulari are hired to protect a new client, Reg Haskell, a bank executive who claims he is receiving death threats from the mob because he welched on gambling debts. Brew and Ginny are having problems with their relationship. He is trying to curb his alcoholism in order to assist Ginny who has lost one of her hands in a bombing incident. She refuses to use her prosthetic device, which she calls "the claw". Brew's alcoholism began when he killed his cop brother in an accident. When two minor hoods are found murdered Brew finds one is the son of an old friend of his from the barrio. Further investigation by the two finds a connection between the killings and their client. But the client's story changes leaving Brew and Ginny with a bewildering job of not knowing what is truth or fiction. Their investigations are also confused by Haskell who doesn't seem to care about avoiding trouble, which only leads the two into danger. This is book two of a series about Axebrewer and Fistoulari which Donaldson has revived. Donaldson wrote the series in the 1980s under the pseudonym of Reed Stephens. This is not only a mystery but also the story of two flawed characters who are trying to overcome their disabilities alone and also with the support of each other. The two are both hardboiled characters, but are weakened by their physical and mental problems. The plot is complex with many conflicting elements. The characters are explored in depth, probing into the feelings not just of Brew and Ginny, but also of Haskell and the parents of the murdered Pablo Santiago.
Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer, December 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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