Set a Thief to Catch a Thief, Rock'N Roll Style: ROCK OF AGES from Timothy Hallinan

Hurrah, the new Junior Bender mystery, ROCK OF AGES, is released today! This rollicking crime and caper novel from Timothy Hallinan unfolds one of the goofiest propositions Junior (his real name) Bender has ever received: Aging mobster Irwin Dressler wants the professional Hollywood thief to unravel fraud and murder inside a tour of 1960s-era rock bands.

You might think Junior could just say "not my area" and duck out. But that would reveal that you haven't read enough of Hallinan's addictive Junior Bender series --- because remember reading somewhere that Hollywood's beginnings involved big money from at least one crime syndicate, and that even today where there's movie money, there's graft? Well, Irwin Dressler is the most frightening and capable of all the possible money men on the spot. Just his name is enough to set grown criminals shaking in their shoes. And Junior, although he's on decent terms with the mobster and his staff, can't say no unless he wants to risk his own life and his family. 

Lest you mistake the book title for something, umm, preachy, listen up: The multiple-band tour of drug-worn, alcohol-slurping geriatrics has the name "Rock of Ages" because the investors all had a stake in these bands back in the day, or even dreamed of singing in them. And all the investors on this tour are criminal creeps themselves. With Dressler the creepiest and most powerful.

That is, he WAS the most powerful. But at least one of his co-investors this time thinks Dressler's over the hill, toothless, and that stealing the money from the tour (modestly successful) should be a piece of cake. Junior's job is to make sure that cake thing is just bait in a big nasty trap.

All this would make a rocking caper novel on its own -- but Hallinan's special touch is the family love (with complications) that drives each of his protagonists. In Junior's case, he's finally got some real time with his teen daughter Rina, with ex-wife Kathy skeptical, and Rina herself pushing Junior to finally explain to her how he makes his living and what his adventures (dangers?) are like.

And just as Daddy-Daughter bonding weekend starts, Dressler applies the screws to Junior.

Mind you, he does his best to protect Rina while he's investigating and maneuvering. It should be safe enough for her to sit in the audience, right? Well, maybe not ... but at least one of the groupies, the elderly but very hip Lavender, is willing to sort of babysit or, umm, teen-sit.

So when danger runs rampant and deaths multiply, Junior urges Rina to stay hidden in the popcorn room with Lavender, with the door locked. He'll rap a pre-arranged code on the door when he comes to get them. He's underestimated how smart and sardonic his daughter is. Rina says to him:

"So, umm, you don't think that anyone else in the world might just knock twice, like for 'two bits'? I mean, that's sort of the default, isn't it? I always knock—"

"This is what happens when I get to clever. I'll just say, 'Hey Rina,' okay?"

"Can't you just hang up on him?" Lavender asked in the background. "I'm not going to live forever."

"I love her," Rina said. "Bye, Dad."

She loved her. I'd had my daughter for less than one day and she'd seen an attempted murder, spotted one of the most terrifying crazies since the Spanish Inquisition, and fallen in love with a groupie from the 1960s. This was probably not what [Rina's mom] Kathy had in mind.

Don't get distracted by all the side-splitting caper humor ... there's serious crime going on here, and as a dedicated mystery reader, your task is to see who's responsible and how to get Rina and Junior out of there alive (without Kathy being ready to kill Junior herself). Because Junior isn't exactly finding the key to do it.

Not yet a reader of this series? No sweat, jump into this one for the kicks and giggles, then go grab the earlier titles. Each one has a great twist and marvelous dynamics.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

It Gets Tougher as the Holidays Get Closer -- But FIELDS WHERE THEY LAY (Tim Hallinan) Might Change That Feeling

Depending on how you measure yourself against what sort of stick, chances are you're either juggling holiday lists at this point, hoping you can do it all -- or you're just starting to write a few, or pretending you don't need a list. "We've got love; we don't need no stinking holiday lists," as the old dark crime film quote could be twisted.

Whichever category you're in, you can take it like a tightrope walker and just look straight to the other side, colored lights and candles and all ... or you can look down from that tightrope ("face reality") and assert that there's not a chance that you'll make it through the holidays without disappointing someone. Most likely, yourself. And the people you love, which is even worse. Ouch.

And that is why, in 12-step groups, the main teaching about any holiday, even the Big Ones, is: It's just another 24 hours. You make it through, the same way, trying to take the next right step.

Cut (as they say in Hollywood) to the latest Junior Bender crime novel from Timothy Hallinan. FIELDS WHERE THEY LAY is number six in this series and in spite of the protagonist's name, this is emphatically not a mystery for kids. "Junior" is Junior Bender's real first name, and he's an adult with a broken marriage, a disillusioned ex-wife and daughter, and a lover who refuses to even tell him where she's come from, although in the last book (King Maybe) Junior bared one of his own deepest secrets to her. The setting is Hollywood (the city, not the film sets), now, and the time, very importantly, is the run-up to Christmas. Junior is a professional thief, with some very questionable connections from recent efforts. When he asks long-time buddy Louie the Lost to come drive him to an important meeting, they connect at a car repair shop ,with Junior bringing the coffee and pie. Junior's complaint about the greased-up place doesn't get him far.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So? What's the emergency?" Louie swept aside some sparkly Christmas cards, heavily accented with black fingerprints, to make room on Pete's desk for the pumpkin pie. ...

"So," I said, "I've got to talk to a guy named Tip Poindexter."

Louie was sliding his feet experimentally across the grease on the floor. "Tell you what," he said without looking up. "Here's my best suggestion. Go get your passport. Go get all your passports. Then go to Pakistan with a lot of plane changes and double-backs and new names along the way. And stay there."

That gives you some idea how bad it could be to work for Tip Poindexter. Unfortunately, Junior doesn't have much choice. Poindexter is actually a violent and sadistic Russian mob type (call him Vlad, say) who knows where Junior's family lives. And for Junior, having his ex-wife and daughter tortured and killed (or even worse, kept alive) by a Russian mob-type sadist would be considerably worse than not getting them the right Christmas gift, wouldn't it?

Yes, Christmas is indeed part of the problem. What Junior needs to solve -- very very quickly -- is why the theft statistics have escalated sharply at a festively bedecked shopping mall outside Hollywood that the mobster and his "friends" own. Maybe it's a good thing he's got this challenging problem, because his girlfriend shows signs of being about to vanish (forever? or until the holidays are past, at least) and he still hasn't bought gifts for anyone. He has some very good reasons to hate Christmas. Reasons that are big enough where even a 12-step group isn't going to provide an attitude adjustment.

So why would you want to read this book? You already probably know (crime fiction being what it is) that someone's going to get killed. You know Junior's going to screw some things up, and his chances of making Christmas work out get more slim with every fresh crisis.

And yet ... there's a refugee making a new life with a leather shop. A Jewish man named Shlomo wrapped in red velvet and fur as the second Santa in the mall, and dispensing old-fashioned (time-tested) wisdom. There are Junior's allies: not just Louie the Lost, but also two amazing tech wizards in teenage girl form named Anime and Lilli, who've helped before, and some decent folks among the ripped-off merchants at the mall. And there's the desperation that the approach to the biggest holiday season of the year can bring: Somehow,  Junior knows he's got just one chance to make things right.

Don't you want to see whether he can do it? With a little help from his friends, of course. Or, again with the crime fiction part of your reading brain, don't you want to see which part is so far out of his control that Junior loses someone or some love forever??

Hold it right there. With friends like Junior's, and with his recent discovery that he can love and be loved, there's a lot of reason for hope, after all. Keep reading.

Oh, that's right -- you don't have the book yet. Well, that's the easy part to fix. It came out a couple of weeks ago, from Soho Press, so it's even still in the first edition. When you pick up your copy, clear the decks (you can catch up on your lists later, and you'll feel better about them if you give yourself the experience of FIELDS WHERE THEY LAY first). Here's one more example of the gems in here: When Junior takes his teenage geek assistant Anime to meet Shlomo, the Jewish Santa, here's the conversation:

Shlomo gave her all his attention. "Have you been good?"

"Oh," she said. She fidgeted. "Um, not very."

"She's been fine," I said. "Better than fine."

"I can see that in her eyes," Shlomo said. "What are you going to give for Christmas?"

Anime's eyes widened. "Give? Oh, right, thank you for asking."

See what I mean?

Even if you hate the holidays with reasons just as good as Junior's -- or especially if you do -- this book is still the best gift you can give to yourself. And if you've already found hope and joy and a sense that you're not obligated to complete all those lists and that the people you love really do love you back ... well, maybe you'll recognize something in here, too.

Best of all: The finale. It provides the best promise that the author of a highly entertaining and intriguing series of mysteries can offer. And I bet you know exactly what that means.

Read on! And ... happy holidays. It may only be 24 hours on the Big Day ahead, but that gives 24 chances to fill each one with something worth appreciating. It's the holiday spirit, after all.

What am I going to give for Christmas (Hannukah)? Hmm. I might need some more copies of this book.

PS: Tim's website isn't up-to-date. I think it's forgivable, considering he's busy writing good books. Check out the Soho Crime site instead. And ...  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Superb Hollywood Crime Caper, in KING MAYBE, Junior Bender

To me, there's only one king of the caper novel in crime fiction: the late, great Donald Westlake. Sure, Dave Zeltserman tied up the modern "noir" caper a few years ago. Rory Flynn's carving out Boston space for his, if not quite so cheerfully. And there are regional gems like Carl Hiassen's Florida titles and the Texas ones by Kinky Friedman.

But Westlake's gift was a combination of exquisite timing (the kind a good comedian has to have) and a willingness to show that criminals can be ordinary dumb bunnies like the guy next door. Beyond that aspect of his caper novels, Westlake also revealed, in a short early series of his under the pen name Tucker Coe, that he understood heartbreak, male style, and could write it with precision and a sharp blade of a pen (or typewriter key). Even though he ended that series before his career soared, the revelation insisted on slipping into his hard-working and often-failing criminals in the rest of his work.

Timothy Hallinan hasn't used the same sort of sleight of hand. His Bangkok series featuring Poke Rafferty rose steadily into a portrait of how a "family of choice" can form and be nurtured; the biggest risks Poke takes, he takes for the sake of the people he cares about.

So when Hallinan segued into the Junior Bender series (which despite the character's name is emphatically NOT "young adult"), he took that emotional dynamic directly into the life of his exquisitely skilled, art-expert, house burglar in Hollywood, Junior Bender. Bender is in many ways clueless about how relationships work -- but he chooses phenomenal women who, if he can manage to let them, not only put up with his gaffes but also teach him how to treat a smart, wise, savvy woman ... like his ex-wife, his teenage daughter, and his current girlfriend, who's so careful not to fully trust him that he's not even sure he knows her real name.

Good thing Junior stumbled into those liaisons, because the heist he's attempting at the opening of KING MAYBE (Junior Bender #5, from Soho Crime) goes wrong so fast and so hard that he'd be a bloody battered corpse, were it not for the rapid response of his ladyfriend (and getaway driver) Ronnie. And it's only Ronnie who can keep calm enough to sort out what's pushing the disasters into place, as Junior holds an incredibly valuable postage stamp in his hands while at least three people try to kill him. Even Stinky, who hired him:

Stinky ... settled his weight farther back in the seat, which made the car dip. "As you should know from recent experience, Junior, when I want to kill you, I'll hire someone to shoot you."

"Like that other man just did," Ronnie said.

Stinky said, "What other man?"

I said, "Never mind."

"And you thought," Ronnie said serenely to Stinky, "that they caught Junior in the act, as people say, and he told them you sent him, and they said, 'Well, all right, then, thanks, here you go,' and gave him the stamp as a reward and came after you."

"Well," Stinky said, "when you put it that  way -- "

"I said the exact same thing," I told him. "When she reacted to my theory. Word for word."

... "Both of you," she said. "You're hopeless."

Hallinan braids a very believable sort of triple betrayal into the plot, while at the same time leaving it to Junior and his two tech-genius teen crime associates (who aren't supposed to be doing that any more) to figure out how to salvage his own daughter's dating life and upcoming birthday party.

I laughed my way through this enjoyable adventure, and if only crime could be this rewarding (in the long run), I might have suggested it to a few other people looking for themselves, like Junior has been. But then again, Junior Bender's Hollywood career is just fiction. ... I think!

Thanks, Tim Hallinan, for great entertainment and the best of twists and conclusions. And PS -- I wish Donald Westlake could be reading your books now.

Savannah Reid #19: KILLER PHYSIQUE, G. A. McKevett

Never, ever judge a book by its cover. Repeat. Never, ever ...

The thing is, the covers for the Savannah Reid mystery series are ... frilly. Girly. Sugary. I might not have ever opened one, because I like my mysteries tighly plotted, with a good twist and memorable characters. Good thing the advance "uncorrected proof" copy arrived here in a plain paper cover with just the title and author and such, no images. Because that way -- I opened it. And once I'd devoured the first few chapters, I knew it had happened again: I'd found a well-developed series with an investigator I really liked and a pace brisk enough to keep me going, casual enough to be relaxing summer reading, and with a chuckle or a giggle tucked in every couple of pages. How could I have missed out on G. A. McKevitt's Savannah Reid series all this time? KILLER PHYSIQUE is number 19! Sheesh.

In case you too are unfamiliar with this series, Savannah Reid has been a tough, clever, and very attractive police officer with plus-size body, great shoes, and a Georgia background. But over the course of this series, she's become a private investigator -- and as KILLER PHYSIQUE opens, she's also experiencing the novelty of being a PI married to a cop, Dirk, the man she's adored for ages. Except for how he leaves the toilet seat up, and his inability to grasp why she's frantically trying to get their house "perfect" for a first visit from Dirk's birth mom, now Savannah's mother-in-law.

Luckily for Dirk, Savannah won't have a lot of time to focus on those homemaking details, because the couple can't resist jumping into an investigation of a very hunky actor, an old friend of one of their own dear friends. Actor Jason Tyrone isn't just "built"; he's the focus of groupies and his new film is a blockbuster.

Unfortunately, Jason's soon dead, and Savannah's determination to figure out whether he's been doping his way to that "killer body" of his takes her into the dark side of Hollywood glam. And when Dirk's quirky "birth mother" arrives in the midst of it all, chaos erupts.

If you snort your iced tea out your nose when reading Janet Evanovich, this is your next series to dig into. If you like a good caper novel and you don't mind a little less gore and a little more merriment, try it (and let me know what you think). And to help you make up your mind to get past the cover and into the not-very-amateur sleuthing of Savannah Reid, here's a taste of the action:

The moment [Officer Bates] saw Savannah, a mixture of lust and loathing crossed his ugly mug, making him, if possible, even less attractive.

She did find it amusing, though, to see him reach up and readjust his toupee -- sprawled like a roadkill raccoon across is head. And as he stood up and walked to the counter, he brushed some wayward corn chip dust off the front of his two-sizes-too-small uniform shirt.

"Now, Officer Bates, you don't need to go getting all spiffed up just for little ol' me," she told him.

Slipstream with Savannah and Dirk as they make their way into Jason Tyrone's mansion, and watch for the hint of motive that almost slips out of their grip, as for a while it looks like murder might be plain old mishap after all. But neither Savannah nor Dirk is convinced, and Dirk's china-toting visiting mama may have just the strange point of view that they need to find what's gone deadly wrong.

P.S. - G. A. McKevett is the pen name of Sonja Massie, who used to write Irish historicals. Looks like Savannah Reid has been keeping her busy instead!

Hollywood Glamour, With Murder: Cheryl Crane, THE DEAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

This is Cheryl Crane's third Nikki Harper mystery, and once again this Hollywood-raised author (she is Lana Turner's daughter) proves she knows how to braid chic, performer-style high life with a tightly paced amateur detection plot. Nikki Harper, a real estate salesperson (like the author!), knows how to flash "the smile" as needed in social and business moments, taught by her amazing mother, actress Victoria Bordeaux. But Nikki's not just a pretty face on a trim body dressed in classic fashion -- she's hard-working, determined, curious, and above all, loyal to her friends.

Which explains why Nikki tackles trying to prove that drably garbed Alison, the sister of one of her friends, shouldn't be a suspect when one of Alison's dog-owning clients is found dead. To untangle the half-truths and outright lies around her, Nikki delves into the show-business record of four actors who'd been Disney child stars ... and whose adult lives are still very, very close. Too close to be healthy, perhaps.

Crane's mysteries have become one of my annual treats, a reliable evening of entertainment spiced with wit, compassion, and courage in just the right doses. I'd love to have a BFF like Nikki (well, actually I have two, although they don't have her outfits). She balances "beautiful people" with smart ones, and when things get tough, she has the good sense to trust her mother's long experience for advice and insight. There's a lot of gentle and generous humor in Crane's murder mysteries, too. Take this conversation between Nikki and her mother Victoria, with Nikki asking her mom to help snag a pair of tickets to an appearance by the Dalai Lama (as a thank-you to a source), and hearing her mother's take on what the Buddhist leader is up to:

"His Holiness is busy ... doing whatever it is that a Lama does. ... He's reached enlightenment. He cant be reincarnated as a fly or a beetle."

Nikki couldn't resist a chuckle. "Mother, how do you know about Buddhist Lamas?"

"Well, Richard, of course."

"Richard?"

"Heavens, I don't remember his name. He was in that sweet film where Julia Roberts played the prostitute."

"Richard Gere?"

"That's him. ..." Victoria paused and then went on. "I'm not friends with the Dalai Lama, but I've met him. When I was in India, years ago. He was very kind. He had a pleasant smile. And he knew who I was ... though I can't imagine he would have seen any of my films," she mused.

Quick action, Hollywood gossip, strong friendships, smart detecting, and oh yes, well-managed dogs and reliable friends and family -- what's not to like in a Cheryl Crane book? THE DEAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL was scheduled for September release but it wriggled out a big early, at the end of the summer. You don't need to read the other two Nikki Harper mysteries first (The Bad Always Die Twice and Imitation of Death), and I do think Crane is getting better with each book in a very satisfying way, but you still might want the others once you have this one. It's a series with a lot of fun in an upbeat, fresh, savvy way, and deserves to be well known. And it will make terrific holiday gifting, too.

Timothy Hallinan, CRASHED: So Good, It's Worth Pre-Ordering

We had a moment of confusion here at Kingdom Books the other evening, as I made ecstatic sounds on the couch while reading CRASHED, the new book from Timothy Hallinan (of Poke Rafferty fame) and told Dave he was going to love it -- and he looked up in puzzlement from his iPad grazing in the armchair across the room and said, "But isn't it a young adult book?"

No, it's not -- emphatically not, since much of the plot turns on the making of a Hollywood "adult movie"! Turns out the reason Dave thought it was for the teen crowd was the name of the book's burglar-protagonist, Junior Bender. The cover design subtitles the book "A Junior Bender Mystery" and Dave, reading it as a tad old-fashioned, assumed "Junior" must be a kid detective.

That said, this is one of those books you long for, wait for, and find once or twice a year -- with an innovative plot (one of those fictional situations where the reader like me says "OMG, of course there had to be a mystery based on this"), an action-packed pace (lots of short chapters, seven or eight pages; if this bugs you, steer clear -- I was surprised at how quickly I adapted, though, and loved the wry chapter titles); and best of all, a burglar protagonist (stand back, Lawrence Block and the late Donald E. Westlake) whose occasional bunglings don't take away from his overall skills and smarts, and whose people-wisdom and inner tenderness drive the action and the solution.

Gotta love it.

Short summary: Junior Bender is a pro burglar, and accepts contract work for others. While attempting (successfully) to steal a Paul Klee painting, he lingers too long and gets trapped by very nasty Rottweiler guard dogs. Through a clever twist of plot, this results in Bender becoming the advocate for a child-actor-grown-up who's about to earn her way into her next round of drug use by acting in a porn flick, under organized crime pressure.

Here's a taste of the writing, from the moment when Bender's buddy Louie (the Lost) shows him an old TV show where the child actor performed (Bender is not a TV watcher himself, despite hiding out in crummy motel rooms where the TV is the "second largest" item of furniture):

She came in, but walking as though she was heading into a ninety-mile an hour wind. It seemed to take every muscle in her body to travel four steps. I could almost see her hair blowing behind her.

"How does she do that?" I asked.

"She did that or better every week," Louise said, without taking his eyes from the screen, "for eight years."

... "What happened?"

Louise got up and went to the window, using one finger to part the curtain. "They're still out there." He turned back to me. "She grew up, I guess. And no show lasts forever ... She was worth it. She'd been working since she was little, carrying the thole thing, and she probably got fed up." He looked with some longing at the dark screen. "She was something, though."

I've already decided I'll re-read this book at least once a year for the rest of my reading life, for the sake of trying to figure out how Hallinan packs so much human hope into a crime novel packed with violent episodes, betrayal, crashes, and more. I hope mobs of people pre-order this book (due out Nov. 13), whether at bookstores or online. Hallinan's Poke Rafferty series was/is terrific -- and this is even better.

Oh yeah, it's going to have a sequel. Two! The second book, Little Elvises, will come out in January, and the third, The Fame Thief, in June 2013. (Who knows why?) (NOTE: Paul Oliver at Soho tells why, in the first comment that follows this post -- do read onward!) One more quick item of very good news: Hallinan gives credit to Soho Crime editor Juliet Grames for helping bring out the best of CRASHED. Grames is rapidly creating a room (much more than a shelf!) of some of today's best crime fiction. Count on more to come.

Cheryl Crane, IMITATION OF DEATH: Hollywood Mystery

Cheryl Crane is almost a distraction from her own books. Daughter of classic actress Lana Turner and actor-restaurateur Josef Stephen Crane, she and her mother also endured a murder trial that took over the news for a long time.

But Crane's writing is pure traditional mystery work, and a satisfying read. IMITATION OF DEATH is the second in her series featuring Hollywood Realtor Nikki Harper, whose famous actress mother can be quite a distraction from both real estate sales and accidental amateur sleuthing. Harper is sensible, savvy, and manages to keep an affectionate partnership with her mother, through all the complications of a job that takes her into the homes of the very wealthy, and her detective efforts that also take her to homes of blue-collar immigrant workers. Of course, there are also the complications that come with her mother Victoria, and Victoria's devoted assistants, like the loyal and handsome Amondo, who just may be more than an ordinary bodyguard. When murder takes place in the adjoining back yard (during a party, of course!), Nikki can't help getting drawn in to protect people she cares about:

By the time Amondo returned with a pair of shoes for Nikki (Bruno Magli vintage black flats, which went fabulously with her sweats and tee) the police had arrived in full force. The alley was full: black-and-white Beverly Hills precinct cars, two ambulances, and several unmarked police cars. Nikki sent Amondo back to the house to retrieve her cell phone and take her dogs out while she remained to answer the police officers' questions ... without giving up any information on Jorge. She needed to talk to him, first. Better yet, she needed to see him. But first, she had to deal with this mess.

Standing up for the Mexican Americans who are essential members of her mother's household, investigating an apparent frame job, and dodging danger, Nikki is an alluring protagonist whose sense of fashion, sense of humor, and sense of what's gone awry are all finely tuned.

And best of all, this series is maturing into a delicious portrait of healthy mother–daughter dynamics, in spite of the crime fiction atmosphere. I enjoy the deftly sketched moments like this one: "Nikki sighed, not quite comfortable with the emotion she heard in her mother's voice. It seemed as if she'd spent half her life trying to get Victoria's attention, but that spotlight, when she found it, was always too intense." Most of the time, these thoughtful asides fit quite nicely with the well-plotted crime-solving that Nikki pursues -- and the friendly affections that Crane portrays serve as a good counterweight to the grim reality of untimely death and racial profiling that Nikki witnesses.

As with Crane's first Nikki Harper novel, The Bad Always Die Twice, I picked up the book because I couldn't resist seeing what Crane would reveal about "her" Hollywood. And then, I just plain fell for the good-hearted characters and the clever twists of plot. Here's an enjoyable book for the bedside table that won't send you into the dark front rooms with a flashlight to check the locks -- but may send you to the kitchen to fix a modest midnight snack, so you can stay up and enjoy a few more chapters. At least, that's how it works at my house -- and at Nikki's!