Rollover

Starred review from May 12, 2014
Slater’s excellent sequel to 2002’s Flash Flood takes insurance investigator Dan Mahoney to tiny Wagon Mound, N.Mex., where someone tunneled into the town bank, ignored millions in cash, and took only a valuable necklace belonging to 85-year-old Gertrude Kennedy. Other things don’t make sense to Dan either, like the auto accident that he was lucky to survive that killed Curt Echols, a former stunt driver, who had offered him a lift into town after his car broke down. Dan discovers that Gert is a great old gal, but her daughter, Penelope, knows more than she admits. Meanwhile, Dan’s girlfriend, Elaine Linden, may be in danger; a rancher has received government grants to save the prairie chicken; the bank president’s policies irk his staff; and a sheriff is loath to suspect people he’s known for years. Dan refuses to close the confusing case until he finds some answers. Readers will be glad they’re along for the ride.

July 1, 2014
Insurance investigator Dan Mahoney (Flash Flood, 2002) gets more than he bargained for when he investigates a bank heist in Wagon Mound, New Mexico.Nothing makes sense about the break-in to the safe depository of First Community Bank. If whoever tunneled under the bank had turned left into the vault instead of right into the depository, they would have snagged close to $1 million in cash. As it was, the thieves were less interested in stealing valuables than in messing stuff about. The only item missing is Gertrude Kennedy's Tiffany diamond-and-sapphire necklace, a family heirloom that dates from the time of the Titanic. Since the necklace is insured with United Life & Casualty, Dan is flagged to investigate, but before he even gets to Wagon Mound, he's injured in a truck rollover that looks staged. The crash brings his favorite lady, Elaine Linden, to his side, and the two do their southwestern take on Nick and Nora Charles, with Dan's Rottweiler, Simon, standing in for Asta. They hole up in a local boardinghouse, where Elaine rustles up bacon and eggs before sending Dan to tangle with stodgy bank manager Lawrence Woods. Dan also checks out the other safe deposit holders, including crabby Ernesto Romero, crabbier Miguel Sandoval and Doc Jenkins, an old coot who breeds prairie chickens and collects rare comics. When he finds Gertrude's daughter keeping Jenkins' books, things begin to look interesting. It still takes several more catastrophic near-misses for Dan to put this baby to bed.If Slater had continued the sequence, following the command "roll over" with "play dead," we'd all save some time.

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July 1, 2014
Insurance investigator Dan Mahoney thought his troubles were over when a kindly local stopped to help him after his car overheated. But a tragic rollover leaves Mahoney badly injured and kills the man who picked him up, who, not so coincidentally, used to be a professional stunt driver. Could the accident have been a way of keeping Mahoney from investigating the claim that brought him to Wagon Mound, New Mexico? A policy holder wants to collect on a stolen Titanic-era necklace that was one of the items taken when thieves tunneled into the local bank's safety-deposit-box vault (while ignoring the millions of dollars in the room right next door). Mahoney's love interest, Professor Elaine Linden, does her best to get Mahoney to take it easy as he recuperates, but Mahoney knows there's more to this puzzle than meets the eye. Coming 12 years after the series opener (Flash Flood), this quick, satisfying read will leave readers hoping that Mahoney doesn't wait quite so long to make his next appearance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)