Safari

September 1, 2014
Edgar-finalist Hall’s rollicking 19th Stanley Hastings mystery (after 2013’s Stakeout) takes the hapless New York City PI and his wife, Alice, to Zambia and Zimbabwe on safari. Accompanying them are such diverse characters as a nubile young woman and her overprotective sibling, an American couple who live in Paris, two large women traveling together, and a cocky young man and his sullen friend. While misadventures with wild animals, cameras, canoes, and outdoor toilets preoccupy Stanley, he’s alert enough to spot that the staff member found dead under a tree of sausage fruit has not perished by accident. When other deaths follow, the cash-strapped tour operator, fearing for his business, asks Stanley to ascertain if they are related and if the group is traveling with a killer. Hall’s smooth style, ready sense of humor, and unusual take on murders in an untamed yet confined setting provide an enjoyable outing for armchair travelers.

October 1, 2014
A group of tourists on safari find themselves in danger not from wild beasts but from a murderer among them. Stanley Hastings and his wife, Alice, are ready to set off on Alice's dream trip, financed by years of saving and a small inheritance and planned by Alice down to the smallest detail. A bump up to business class makes some of their future accommodations seem pretty shabby, but the wisecracking Stanley, a private eye who works for an ambulance-chasing lawyer, is determined to do whatever it takes to keep Alice happy. The expedition, run by Clemson Safari, starts off in Zambia, where the couple meets their fellow travelers. The first stop is an upscale lodge, where they soon see wildlife and a dead spotter. At first he seems to have been killed by a falling sausage fruit, but Stanley notices that the wound was caused by something sharp, not blunt. Discovering a bloody stick, he reports it to Clemson, but it vanishes before they can retrieve it. When one of the group is found dead after asking questions, Stanley can see that she was poisoned. Even Clemson, whose business' success rests on a razor's edge, knows he has to get the police involved. Asking Stanley to investigate, Clemson quickly moves the group to Zimbabwe in hopes of finishing the safari before the police and the American embassy get involved. Self-deprecating Stanley, who's taken all this time just to learn the names of his companions, has little hope of solving the crimes, but he has to try. In his 19th appearance, Stanley (Stakeout, 2013, etc.) once more faces a case he's convinced is too tough for him. Hall complements his struggles with amusing repartee and enough red herrings to keep it interesting.

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September 1, 2014

Who wouldn't want to go to Zambia? With a small inheritance and a little scrimping and saving, Stanley Hastings (Caper; Stakeout) books the trip of a lifetime. But a series of unfortunate accidents decimates the tour group. Who is responsible--the gung ho tour guide, perhaps? Or is something more nefarious at work? But when murder and an inexperienced park ranger collide, Stanley has to step up to the plate before he becomes a lion's dinner.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014
Wisecracking private investigator Stanley Hastings steps out of his familiar New York surroundings to go on an African safari with his impatient and equally quick-witted wife, Alice. Of course, it's a complete waste of a crime-solving character to put him in an exotic location and not have anything go wrongso it's no surprise to the reader when a guide is killed. Not by a sausage fruit is the hilarious but hardly helpful cause of death. Then one of the other tourists is murdered. Fortunately for Stanley, the victim is not the lissome, alleged nymphomaniac who has been distracting him from Zambia's natural beauty. Series readers will enjoy seeing Alice and the always irreverent Stanley outside their comfort zone. The tour guides and their charges provide an interesting cross-section of suspects, and Hall rewards genre devotees by throwing in a librarian pair who became friends on the popular listserv DorothyL. Another funny, brisk entry in the long-running series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)