Bubbles Unbound

March 1, 2001
Meet Bubbles Yablonsky, beautician-reporter-sleuth and blazing star of Strohmeyer's entertaining, establishment-bashing debut as a mystery writer. Like the mills that gird the book's seen-better-days steel town of Lehigh, Pa., the city is itself a seething cauldron. Battle lines are sharply drawn between the haves and have-nots. Bubbles is hell-bent on getting even with the overlords, especially her former husband, a heel who has gone over to the other side. Opportunity knocks when Bubbles incriminates a wealthy socialite in a brutal murder and then uncovers a murky past, where corpses are littered around the accused's steel-magnate husband. The going is never easy, as Bubbles faces more perils than Pauline: falling off a bridge in the arms of a potential suicide; dodging drive-by gunmen and car bombers; being handcuffed and fitted for cement boots; and always searching for a better way to display her cleavage. Armed with her certificate from Two Guys Community College, abetted by a quirky array of social castoffs and fueled by Doritos, Velveeta and Diet Pepsi, Bubbles overcomes every obstacle on her way to shaking the foundations of the corporate world and, in the process, leaving more than a few wrinkles in her ex's tailored Brooks Brothers suits. Hop in the Camaro and buckle up: Bubbles is behind the wheel, and a wild ride awaits. Agent, Heather Schroder at ICM.

Bubbles Yablonsky, single mother and perennial, but not very successful, community college student, aspires to write a breakthrough piece of news reporting, turn her life around, and make her teenaged daughter proud. Suspecting the town's powerful mill owner in a number of unsolved murders, she suddenly finds herself dodging thugs, bullets, and lawsuits, intermittently stopping to do hair and give makeup tips. A good mix of quirky characters, suspenseful plot twists, and playful sexuality combine to create a promising series starter--a well-structured mystery that keep listeners laughing. Barbara McCullough obviously has fun as Bubbles. Her phrasing is smart; her tone manages to be tongue in cheek and enthusiastic in good measure. E.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine