“A Prize Plot.” -San Francisco Examiner
“A bright, light, cleverly written tale.” -Cincinnati Post
HE KNOWS TOO MUCH—BUT HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE KNOWS… and Paul would write the client reports. It wasn’t much, but it would keep Spot the cat in Kitty Queen tidbits.
But then somebody poisoned Jack in Paul’s own living room. A day that begins with a body in your house really ought to get better, but next comes burglary and after that, assault-by-cop. And Paul’s got a feeling that’s just the beginning. There must have been something someone didn’t want him to know in one of those client reports. But what?
The wise-cracking, funny, but slightly depressed ex-journalist better become an ace private investigator in about two seconds—or end up like his detective mentor.
Birnbaum’s last report concerned a kidnapped child, so Paul begins there. The trail leads him to the laboratory of a Nobel laureate geneticist, and then to San Francisco City Hall, where an extremely nasty surprise awaits. But there’s an upside—lovely witness Sardis Kincannon. Nothing like falling in love while you’re running for your life!
The FIRST Paul Mcdonald P.I. mystery by the Edgar-winning author of the Skip Langdon series
“One more blithe San Fran outing with a likeable journalist-sleuth by the name of Paul Mcdonald … Smith improves with each story and this is her best to date.” -Kirkus Reviews
The San Francisco Bay Area shines here, as does the author’s wit and humor.
Fans of CASTLE, MURDER SHE WROTE, even ELLERY QUEEN will enjoy this fast-paced and funny take on the mystery-writer-as-detective. As will people who like their male sleuths wry, witty, and a little on the soft-boiled side—fans of Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings, say, Tony Dunbar’s Tubby Dubonnet, Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch (this Mcdonald, it’s worth noting, is Paul’s personal hero), Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr, and especially Rex Stout’s Archie Goodwin. Female sleuths with a sense of humor remind us of him too—for instance, Criminal Minds’ Penelope Garcia and the immortal Amelia Peabody (of whom he’d be terrified if they ever met).
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Paul is a reporter trying to write a book and writing up reports for a private investigator. When the private eye is killed, Paul finds it has something to do with the case he was working . Then, everyone the private eye talked to are killed. Soon, someone is going after Paul. He fights with the police officer in charge and they fight back and …
this is the italian grand prix. you are off and running with style. whipped about. perhaps a car or two flies off the sidelines… hard-boiled and just plain good fun.
I love a mystery, so this fit the bill. Nice to have a writer as the “detective.”
You are in that time and place. Chicago, and it’s characters in history live in this book. I know that this private eye will continue doing good deeds in another well researched book to follow. I will be there
Pretty good storyline.
I like some his dialog. Sort of like he’s letting you in on his thoughts.
Enjoyed reading it. First book I have read from this author.
Author is an excellent writer with a very witty and humorous writing style. Good plot, good character development, and some very funny bits interwoven throughout.
A good read but at times he tried too hard to be funny and things fell flat.
This book was slow to get into. I had to force my way past the first few pages to finding it interesting, but it grew on me after a while. Some books are like that you start reading them and think you made a mistake buying the book, but if you can get past a certain page they begin to pick up and you find it is a better read than you thought.
I bought this on a whim but got caught up in it from the first page. The characters are sharply written. There’s just the right mix of humor and action.
It was an OK read & I will read more by the author (actually bought the 2nd book in the series). I notice that quite a few first novels in a series sometimes have a little shaky start as the author is trying to establish the main character(s) and I hope they do progress because I feel that the series could be a good series. That being said, the …
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I look forward to more
A good read for a rainy day
Dragged some
Not impressed.
Loved it!
Bent over backwards to be funny which made story ridiculus.
Read a few chapters , then deleted it. To boring.
A good read. Enjoyed it.