From Publishers Weekly
Powell makes a promising debut with a fast-moving, entertaining mystery set in the 1930s and served up in the hardboiled style. When Hollis Carpenter, veteran crime reporter for the Houston Times , is pulled from her beat to cover a no-news society item, she resigns in disgust. Andrew Delacroix, the paper's owner, intervenes, inviting Hollis to dinner and asking her to reconsider the new assignment while showing a genuine interest in her current story concerning guns that have vanished from the police station's evidence room. Hollis returns from her evening with Delacroix and his beautiful wife, Lily, only to find that her apartment has been burgled. She decides to seek help from Joe Mahan, a friend and cop, but at his house she finds his corpse; Joe has been murdered. Then Hollis herself receives a death threat and is nearly gunned down in public with Lily, whom she meets for an evening out. Clearly, whatever the now unemployed reporter stirred up is dangerous and edging ever closer. Although Hollis is more a smart aleck than a wit and Lily remains undeveloped, Powell effectively makes their lesbian relationship integral to the mystery.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In another Naiad mystery, first novelist Powell enters 1936 Houston crime reporter Hollis Carpenter in the ranks of lesbian investigators, but only with partial success. Although she evokes the rough mood of the Thirties well enough, the mannerisms she gives Hollis are excessive. Butch as hell around people, she spouts brash language and brutal simile while searching for a cop killer but allows her pet dog to push her around; she reacts quickly to events, but goes weak-kneed at the sight of glamorous Lily Delacroix, her sudden love interest. Despite a certain gritty charm, this is not recommended.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
