Book review of Harol Marshall’s The Case of the Missing Mobster…
Happy July Fourth to all U.S. readers of this blog! Celebrate, be safe, and be responsible.
[Note from Steve: For an interview with this author, see the previous post.]
The Case of the Missing Mobster. Harol Marshall, author (Black Opal Books, 2019). When wannabe actress Sally Martin walks into PI Polly Berger’s office, Polly is glad to get the case of finding her client’s missing husband Ricky Martin—another wannabe actor, not the singer. But the case becomes complicated. Her client knows things the local Hollywood cops don’t know, and the local FBI agents, who start tailing Polly, won’t admit to knowing either. Part of Sally’s extra knowledge involves Lenny Spinoli, who Sally says was Ricky’s friend; his body just washed up on a beach.
There’s a good cast of characters here that includes Polly’s sidekick Bernardo “Bunny” Contreras and several “contacts” Polly works with, and other friends. The plot has enough twists and misdirects to please any fan of the mystery/crime genre, and with Polly in the first person, the reader will discover them right along with Polly. There’s serious business afoot too, but the overall tone is tongue-in-cheek, especially with Bunny, who moonlights as a standup comedian. That fits the Californian laid-back lifestyle. I should mention that Bunny’s girlfriend is Polly’s twin sister Franny, a fact used to confuse the FBI, for example. Franny and Rosa, who does tarot card readings in the office below Polly’s, add more color to the plot.
The author is a fan of Perry Mason, but the style here reminds me of both Robert Parker and Carl Hiaasen. LA is neither Boston nor Florida, of course, but having a bit of fun among the serious goings-on characterizes Ms. Marshall’s main character’s adventures as well as those of the other two authors’.
There were a few references to pop culture that tickled my fancy too, and a revisit to my old California haunts was frosting on the cake. Readers will enjoy this novel as much as I did, I’m sure.
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Comments are always welcome.
The Last Humans. Ex-USN diver Penny Castro surfaces from a forensics dive for the LA County Sheriff’s Department to find her fellow deputies and a witness dead from a plague that sweeps around the world, killing billions. Follow her adventures in this post-apocalyptic SoCal landscape as she finds other survivors, some friendly and others violent. Their struggles aren’t for the faint of heart, but Penny and her companions show mettle and ingenuity as they deal with a world gone mad. Available in print and ebook format on Amazon and in ebook format on Smashwords and all the latter’s affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas.
