About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

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


  

THE CASE OF THE DECEIVING DON
by Carl Brookins
Five Star, August 2008
235 pages
$25.95
ISBN: 1594146772


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Sean Sean was too short to land a spot on the Roseville, Minnesota police force, so he became the next best thing, a PI. Sean spends most of his time stalking insurance claim defrauders and doing surveillance work for law firms. Occasionally, though, he tackles a job worthy of his keen powers of deduction. Just such a case comes his way when he arrives home one day to find his block swarming with police. It seems that a nursing home resident has been blown to bits in his wheelchair directly across from Sean's driveway. Curiosity gets the better of Sean when he notices two men watching the scene from the safety of a blue Audi parked down the street. Could they have triggered the bomb that killed aging Mafia don Greasy Gus Molinaro? When the car takes off unnoticed by the police, Sean decides to tie on his signature red Keds and jump into action.

Sean's first move involves a bit of reconnaissance work at the Sheltering Limbs retirement home. A long-time resident there, Gus shared a suite with his personal assistant, Martin Levy. Levy vanished from the home moments after the don's death, which makes him a prime suspect in the case. But why, after spending fifteen years as Molinaro's caregiver, would Levy kill him now? Was Molinaro ready to leak Mafia secrets to the feds? An even bigger question is, why would someone want to take a potshot at Sean in his Twin Cities office? Because saving his own skin is important to Sean, the intrepid PI grabs his gat and hunkers down to solve The Case of the Deceiving Don.

Carl Brookins' light-hearted look at Midwestern crime features a lovable but technology-challenged detective with a penchant for red gym shoes and pulp fiction lingo. Sean loves guns, women, and alcohol, and treats all three with equal respect. Despite his reliance on friends for help in his investigation, Sean has a good head and uses it to decipher the clues given him. Breaking and entering is not beneath him, nor is a tough approach repugnant to him when needed. Doggedness is his prime attribute, and like a dog with a bone, he doesn’t give up even when the trail seems colder than an Arctic winter. Sean may be lacking in stature, but he’s got everything it takes to make a great fictional detective. Readers will enjoy both the man and the plot in this satisfying sixth mystery by Minnesota novelist Carl Brookins.

Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, May 2008

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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