Hide and Snake Murder

April 16, 2012
In Chandler’s rip-roaring sequel to Bingo Barge Murder (2011), “sick gambler” Basil “Baz” Lazowski turns for help to his old schoolmate, series heroine Shay O’Hanlon, owner of the Rabbit Hole, a Minneapolis coffee shop. Thugs are after Baz because he stole a stuffed snake that happened to be filled with wads of cash. Unfortunately, the poker-loving aunt off whom Baz sponges, Agnes Zaluski, accidentally took the toy with her on a vacation trip to New Orleans. Baz, Shay, and Shay’s best friend, Nicholas “Coop” Cooper, head south to retrieve the stuffed snake before the thugs do. Once in the Big Easy, they all land in more trouble than they could ever have imagined. Fortunately, Shay’s law-enforcement girlfriend, JT Bordeaux, who’s been attending an FBI training course at Quantico, comes to the rescue. Fans of comic cozies are in for a wild, enjoyable ride.

May 1, 2012

Family friend Baz may not be Shay's favorite person, but when he gets in trouble, she begrudgingly rescues him. Baz's latest errors of judgment (he's a kleptomaniac who lifted a stuffed toy snake from a customer's house) have now endangered three beloved family members vacationing in New Orleans with the snake. So it's off to the Crescent City where the loved ones are found and the snake recovered. Then the bad guys kidnap Shay and her friends. Motive? That toy snake is stuffed with drug-dealing money. In comic fashion, Shay and company escape and hightail it back to Minneapolis. Shay calls in a favor with the police department and is put in touch with a professor who brings her up to speed on how drug cartels work. Improbably, Shay and her friends have muddled into the midst of a major drug operation. The challenge now is survival. VERDICT The sophomore outing for lesbian coffee shop owner Shay (Bingo Barge Murder) and her entourage of loveable and multigenerational characters is just right for those looking for a madcap romp. Think Rita Lakin and Don Bruns for compatible authors.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
A misfit crew band together in an antic misadventure. Shay O'Hanlon, trying to get into a routine while her finally-girlfriend Lt. JT Bordeaux is training at Quantico, is just getting comfortable when something goes wrong. Not for Shay this time; it's her up-to-no-good friend Basil who comes to Shay for help because someone's after him for stealing a large stuffed snake from an office where he was doing ductwork. At first Shay's certain the whole thing must be a mistake, but when Baz adds that Shay's older friends Agnes, Eddy and Rocky now have custody of the snake and are holding it in New Orleans--though he never exactly explains why--Shay knows she's got to do something. When she tries to get in touch with the trio, they're MIA, so Shay grabs her old friend Coop and with Baz, heads for the Big Easy. Although she knows Agnes and Eddy are feisty enough to take care of themselves, gentle Rocky isn't street-smart, and Shay wants to be there to offer everyone extra protection while explaining the situation in person. When they arrive, Agnes and Eddy report that Rocky hasn't been seen since the night before. It shouldn't be hard to find Rocky with his distinctive aviator cap in the southern heat, but somehow, along the way, the group ends up mixed up with a crooked cop, a group of circus performers, and a powerful drug lord. Fans of Chandler (Bingo Barge Murder, 2011) will appreciate the character development and sense of humor, though newbies may wonder why anyone would help hapless Baz.

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