Dev Haskell 4 – 7

Book 4 – BOMBSHELL
It’s been three years since I’ve dipped my toe in the Devlin Haskell universe. There are currently 25+ books in this series, and I found it easy to slip back into the 21st century tech noir that are so much a part of the appeal. It has been suggested that fans of Stephanie Plum will enjoy these books… I concur.

The recurring theme in the life of Dev Haskell is ‘wrong time, wrong place.’ He is a private investigator with a fondness for beer and women… lots of women. Heidi Bauer seems to be his go to squeeze when all else fails. Detective Manning and Haskell seem to have a double-sided relationship where Manning alternately arrests Dev and asks for his help. Let’s not forget his disheveled lawyer Louie Laufen.

In BOMBSHELL, our hero gets picked up in a noisy bar by a sassy girl and winds up as security for an upcoming roller derby match between the Bombshells the local St. Paul team, and the Hasting Hustlers imported from the UK. As always, the big question is ‘what could go wrong’ watching over a bevy of gorgeous derby girls? The answer is, of course, everything!

Mike Faricy is very good at describing the characters throughout the book… everyone except Devlin Haskell. He leaves the looks of the lothario PI to your imagination. His success with women, albeit usually short lived, seems to indicate he is far from being a toad, yet we know nothing about his height, weight, hair or eye color. An interesting portrayal to be sure.

BOMBSHELL, like the first three books in the series, is a very fast read. The action keeps you turning the pages, and the mayhem that is the life of Devlin Haskell will make you shake your head and laugh aloud.

Book 5 – TUTTI FRUTTI

I really enjoy reading books that I don’t have to take too seriously during these times of upheaval. A body can take just so much politics without having a total meltdown. Devlin Haskell, ‘call me Dev,’ manages to combine beer, babes and bad luck in very clever ways thanks to the skill of author Mike Faricy in convoluting any and all situations.

TUTTI FRUTTI is the fifth book in the Dev Haskell series; take note… the title does not refer to a flavor of ice cream. It is a club that caters to a clientele with very specific tastes… again, not ice cream. Once more, Dev finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to land in hot water with the police.

Dev’s client in this outing is Swindle Lawless… female, blonde, curvy (of course!). The way she becomes his client is nothing but unorthodox. And our feckless womanizer thinks he’s in love with an older woman with the unlikely name of Candi Slaughter. I’m starting to notice a pattern in the names in this series and that pattern spells satire. If you read mysteries, you know that there is generally no fat in the telling. Every detail is a clue. Sometimes that clue is a red herring; more often than not, it is worth considering. That makes every name, of every character (particular to the book) a very clever ploy on the part of Mike Faricy. Remember the names that make you laugh!

Book 6 – Last Shot

LAST SHOT gives us more insight into just who Devlin Haskell really is. Yes, he still cracks wise, but he also reflects inward which gives his character more depth. I’ve thought of Dev mostly as a kind of goofball until now. There is a kind of quiet strength and more integrity in him than you might think.

Desi Quinn is a woman wronged. She is not just down on her luck, she can’t get Dev to dig into why she was wronged. This is strange because she is an attractive, intelligent woman… and (if you’ve been reading the series) you know just how Dev feels about attractive women. She is the almost client, then she is dead. Some of the last words she spoke to him were “You were sort of my last shot. I don’t know, but I just have a feeling.” These words will haunt him throughout the book.

In some respects, the books in this series border on noir without actually crossing that line; LAST SHOT puts a couple of toes in that direction. The Spot is not the bar in Casablanca, and Heidi Bauer is far from the tragic heroine. The usual suspects – Detective Norris Manning, Lt. Aaron LaZelle, and Louie Laufen – are all there in their usual roles that roots the story in 21st century reality. So far, and I have a lot of books left to read, LAST SHOT is my favorite.

Book 7 – Ting-A-Ling

Dev Haskell made the mistake of answering a 2 AM phone call; his life went downhill from there. The sexy voiced caller was one Danielle Roxbury the heiress-princess-trust fund-baby. Dev, of course, couldn’t resist. She has apparently loaned $50,000, in cash, to lowlife con man Renee Paris, and she wants Dev to send the message she wants her money back. Dev suggests she get a good lawyer.

Now that I’m seven books into the series, I realized that I don’t know much about Devlin Haskell. Mike Faricy does a great job of describing all the regulars, and the cast of characters introduced in each book, but he doesn’t tell us much about Dev. In the last book, LAST SHOT, there is mention that Dev is an Iraq War vet, and all along, I’ve assumed he must be easy on the eye because women seem to be drawn to him (at least at first). The only thing, I know about him after reading this book is that he has dark hair, combed back. The emphasis on Devlin Haskell has always been his ability to be at the wrong place, at the right time, to find himself in hot water. He is also charming enough, and smart enough to get himself out of these jams pretty much unscathed.

We also learn about a childhood friend of Dev’s, Jimmy White who Dev recalls taking the blame for a broken window for him.

The skill of a mystery writer is showcased by how well they pull all the threads in a plotline together. I find that Mike Faricy is a very good thread puller. No matter how far from the central story something may seem, it will matter in the end. However, there is a teeny, tiny thread… no, maybe just a trace of lint… that remains a mystery here… What would that be?! Ahh, that would be telling.