Give the Devil His Due

February 27, 2017
At the start of Hockensmith and Falco’s sprightly third Tarot mystery (after 2015’s Fool Me Once), Alanis McLachlan gets a major-league shock when her con-man surrogate father, Biddle, shows up at the White Magic Five and Dime, the store Alanis inherited from her late con-artist mother, in Berdache, Ariz. Alanis believed he died 30 years earlier after angry gangsters took him for a walk into an Ohio cornfield from which he never returned. Biddle’s resurrection coincides with the odd disappearance of a customer, who vanished after asking to use the White Magic’s restroom. And Alanis, who narrowly escapes being run down by a car, becomes a person of interest to the local police after another customer, who identified himself to her as Mike Brown, CPA, is found dead with one of her business cards in his possession. The authors keep the surprises coming while maintaining a consistently humorous tone. Agent: Josh Getzler, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency.

February 15, 2017
A fortuneteller gets the surprise of her life.Alanis McLachlan (Fool Me Once, 2015, etc.) has walked a long path from pawn in her late mother's con game to owner of the White Magic Five and Dime. Now a legit tarot reader, she can decipher a standard Celtic Cross layout quicker than you can say "King of Cups." So why did the cards not give her a heads-up that James McDonald, aka Biddle, didn't die in a cornfield all those years ago but instead was about to descend like a thunderbolt onto picturesque Berdache, Arizona, bringing a cavalcade of small-time grifters on his trail? The 70-something African-American's abrupt arrival unleashes quite a bit of family angst for Alanis' mixed-race teenage sister, Clarice. It also brings Trump-style tycoon Ulf Pichler, unkempt Glenn Budziak, and detective Robert Dryja, all looking for something they want that Biddle probably has. When Dryja's body turns up in his room at cushy Devil's Ridge Lodge with a card from White Magic in his pocket, Detective Daniel Burby briefly makes it onto the list of Alanis' problems, but he's soon eclipsed by a couple of geriatric old-school mobsters. And the geezers are pushed to the back burner when someone aims an Uzi at Alanis and takes down a passing pigeon. It's every man, woman, and teen for himself as the authors uncork their third free-wheeling adventure set in the craziest town west of Maggody, Arkansas.

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March 1, 2017

Hockensmith (known also for his "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" novels and the award-winning Holmes on the Range), and tarot expert Falco, continue their quirky series featuring reformed con artist and tarot reader Alanis McLachlan. Alanis is still attempting to right the wrongs of her late con artist mother, who left Alanis the White Magic Five & Dime, in Berdache, AZ. As usual, danger is in the cards for Alanis when a customer dies shortly after an ominous reading, and the supposedly dead Biddle, a key figure from her past, turns up in Berdache with some unpleasant types on his trail. There is also the possibility of romance, but it isn't clear if teacher Victor Castellanos or a dangerously attractive bad boy will have the better hand to play. As usual, Alanis is assisted in her crime fighting by her half sister Clarice and CeeCee, Clarice's girlfriend. VERDICT The authors' third outing (after Fool Me Once) is a diverting series title filled with eccentric protagonists and engaging banter, insights into the art of the grift, and tantalizing love interests. Apt to appeal to Jim Swain fans and lovers of Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg's "Fox and Hare" series.--ACT

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