Dead Loudmouth

April 4, 2016
In Houston’s amiable 16th mystery set in Loon Lake, Wis. (after 2015’s Dead Rapunzel), police chief Lewellyn “Lew” Ferris and her small team must deal with a big crime. Joyce Harmon, a janitor at a so-called gentlemen’s club, Buddy’s Place, alerts the police after she discovers two entwined naked bodies atop a piano suspended from the high ceiling. At Buddy’s, Lew and her retired dentist boyfriend, Doc Osborne, and expert tracker Ray Pradt quickly establish that the victims—whom Joyce identifies as club owner Chet Wright and stripper Tiffany Niedermeier—were murdered. Interviews with Ty Wallis, the manager of the exclusive Deer Creek Fishing and Hunting Preserve; stripper Nina Krezminski; and Wright’s estranged wife, Karen, show that Wright was scamming several members of Deer Creek. Meanwhile, Osborne’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Mason, goes missing on a fishing outing. Houston combines a likable cast with a serviceable plot. Agent: Martha Millard, Sterling Lord Literistic.

June 1, 2016

Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris is called to the scene of a horrific accident at Loon Lake, WI, right after telling the mayor that criminal activity in the area was at an all-time low. The misdeed took place at a gentleman's club owned by one of the victims. How exactly did those folks get crushed by the piano, up against the ceiling? This 16th installment (after Dead Rapunzel) delivers an intriguing plot and a solidly drawn setting.

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