My favorite husband/wife
detective duo is back! Jake and Laura
only get better with time. I always have
sort of a fear at the end of each book that the next one just can’t measure up,
but they always do! I love that Michael
Murphy keeps them fresh and interesting, without taking away from the eccentricities
that make them Jake and Laura. They are
happily married now, but they have just enough arguments and disagreements to
keep it interesting!
The Big
Brush Off finds Laura at the top of her acting career, but Jake isn’t doing
so well in his. Book sales are down and
his publisher informs him that if his next book isn’t great, they will drop
him. Then an old acquaintance comes to
find him in New York. She’s the mother
of girl who was murdered ten years ago in a small Pennsylvania town. Jake was still a Pinkerton detective at the
time, and he was given the case. He had
just started working on it when he was called away to care for his sick
father. He was never able to return, the
case was never solved and it has haunted him ever since. Mary Caldwell is a sick woman, and it’s
obvious that she’s dying. She wants Jake
to come back to Hanover and find out who murdered her daughter, Katie. Jake refuses, even though he feels terrible
about it. Laura convinces him that
Hanover would be a great place to relax and work on a new book. He’s determined not to investigate the old
case, but things start happening almost as soon as he arrives. It’s obvious that someone in town doesn’t
want Jake to find the answers, but how far will they go to stop him? With Laura’s help and encouragement, Jake
will finally close the case that has bothered him the longest.
The Jake and Laura books do have serious mysteries to solve, and a lot
of intrigue along the way, but the aspect that makes this series special is the
light-heartedness and humor in every book.
Most of it comes from the relationship between Jake and Laura. For example, Jake gets locked out of their hotel
room, and when he tries to break back in, he’s caught by the house
detective. Laura is ticked off at him,
so she pretends that she doesn’t know who he is, nearly landing him in trouble
with the police. They end up with a good
laugh over the situation, and Jake learns something else never to say to his
wife again! While the murders and
mysteries are great, it’s situations like this that give these books their edge
and make the series as great as it is.
And of course, no Jake and Laura book would be complete without the
famous names. I’m always curious to see
who they’ll run into next. So far they’ve
met Cole Porter, Bill Powell, Amelia Earhart and Clark Gable among others.
If you’re a fan of old-time radio
shows or black and white detective movies, this is a series you don’t want to
miss!
Happy Reading!
Lyndsie
I received an advance copy of
this book from the publisher in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own, and a favorable
review was not required. Look for The Big Brush Off on or around February
9.
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