There Was a Crooked Man

August 1, 2016
Those fond of big ethnic families with branches on both sides of the law will best appreciate Larsen’s fifth mystery featuring smart-alecky Chicago PI Cat DeLuca (after 2015’s Bye, Bye Love). Even though Cat’s two-person operation, the Pants on Fire Detective Agency, specializes in tracking wayward spouses—or hootchie stalking, as longtime friend Capt. Bob Maxfield of the CPD calls it—her latest case involves butting into Bob’s business. She can’t help herself after learning that Bob’s dog, Sam I Am, has been kidnapped. Bob, who’s also her retired CPD detective father’s former police partner, would sooner that she took a leap off the end of Navy Pier. Plying him with donuts and lemon tarts, Cat eventually gets Bob to open up and learns that her father is involved in a cover-up that threatens both men’s reputations. The wisecracking PI must fend off dual mortal threats—one from desperate bad guys, another from her matchmaking, cannoli-baking mother—in this middling series entry.

A private eye's latest case leads her back to her own family of Chicago's finest, giving her a chance to solve the crime while eating her Mama's cooking.Although coming from a family of cops has made being a PI a natural move for Cat DeLuca, she gets less respect than the boys in blue because her Pants On Fire Detective Agency specializes in catching cheating spouses rather than criminals. Cat's also used to getting a hard time from her large Italian family, with whom she has a love-to-hate relationship. Her mother has been especially vocal lately about pushing Cat to marry her long-term boyfriend, FBI agent Chance Savino. Mama has even hired the local priest to join them on an engagement-encouraging cruise. However, it's her long-separated sister Sophie who's giving Cat the hardest time lately. While Sophie might technically be Cat's sister by blood, the two couldn't be more different, and Cat sometimes calls Sophie Barbie because of her looks and her dream lifestyle. Since Cat's usual partner, larger-than-life Cleo Jones, is away for the duration, likely to the chagrin of Larsen's fans (Sticks and Stones, 2014, etc.), Sophie's determined to step into Cleo's job at Pants on Fire. Cat, too distracted to say no, is busy working her latest unofficial case: sussing out the whereabouts of Bridgeport's police captain Bob Maxfield's beloved Pomeranian, Sam I Am, who's been dognapped and beamed to Bob's computer via live feed. Bob doesn't want Cat anywhere near the case, and no wonder: the dognappers know about his own past role in some shady business, and the misdeeds of Cat's family may be tied to Sam's fate. Light fare, focusing on the heroine's family rather than her burgeoning business or romance, that's more interested in developing her relationships than building suspense. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2016
Family is important in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport, where Cat DeLuca operates her Pants on Fire Detective Agency. Daughter of a retired Chicago cop and sister to another, Cat has close ties to law enforcement, especially to the 9th precinct, where her father's former partner, Captain Bob, prevails. Cat mostly tracks down cheating spouses, so a call from Captain Bob to recover his kidnapped dog is a welcome change. The ransom picture is dated some 15 years earlier, but when Cat asks Boband her fatherabout it, they clam up. As Cat traces the few available clues, she uncovers more than one family's secrets. Despite efforts to be a businesslike PI, Cat lands in multiple scrapes, thanks to her smart-mouthed, colorful associates and sheer gutsiness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)