About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

MONKEY MAN
by Steve Brewer
Intrigue Press, September 2006
232 pages
$24.00
ISBN: 1890768731


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Fans of Bubba Mabry have been disconsolate for years, as our favorite incompetent PI seemed to have been put to pasture by his author. When Steve Brewer announced at Left Coast Crime 2006 that he had finished the seventh Bubba book, a cheer arose from the crowd. In spite of our love of the accomplished investigators we see on TV, our hearts are truly with a man with flaws, and Bubba fits that bill perfectly.

Bubba is sitting in a coffee shop with a new client, Jeff Simmons, who wants Bubba's help in investigating a number of suspicious animal deaths at the local zoo. Well, one of those animals must have a vendetta because a huge monkey with a gun swoops into the café and kills Simmons. Obviously, it's a human in a monkey suit, someone who wants to make sure that the whistle isn't blown on whatever funny business is going on at the zoo.

The most likely suspect would seem to be one of the zoo employees who has something to hide. When he is hired by Simmons' fiancée, Mabry goes into full investigative motive. In spite of the fact that he is perceived of as being a bit below par in the brains department, he notices things that the police don't see.

Bubba may not be the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but MONKEY MAN is not a spoof or caper kind of book. It does have one uproariously funny scene, where someone puts Bubba in the gorilla enclosure and they have their way with him. It's hard to imagine someone like Spenser covered with monkey poo, but not a stretch at all when it comes to Bubba. Each of the characters serves a purpose, with only a few of them drawn more deeply. Bubba's wife, Felicia, is a newspaper reporter and has an intern assistant who is particularly annoying. Death by monkey gunfire might have been a blessing. Felicia has always been a difficult woman, but in this book, she came across to me as more shrill than I remember her. Bubba mostly seemed afraid of her, although she did help when called for.

Bubba may be marginally older and wiser, but he still manages to get himself in a boatload of trouble. It was great to spend time with him again. In spite of the fondness I've always had for this character, I find that I prefer some of the standalone books that Brewer has created in the hiatus between the sixth and seventh books in this series. In particular, BULLETS and FOOL'S PARADISE were terrific books. Bubba will always have a place in my heart, but now he has company.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2006

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]