Grave Doubt [Hardcover]

Deft plotting and the engagingly ironic narration of Denver shamus Jake Lomax are nearly wasted in this less than gripping work. A few years back, accountant Martin Blyleven died in a plane wreck, leaving a wife, a child and an insurance policy. He also left his employer, charismatic TV preacher Franklin Reed, with a job to fill. Reed's church, funded mainly with cash, is falling under the watchful eye of a local mafia type, and Blyleven's wife now claims that her husband is alive and demanding money?the precise amount of the insurance policy. The mob-church connection grows stronger, and the PI is threatened by three goons. Except for Lomax, the cast is less than engaging. Immoral, philandering preachers are a dime a dozen, and the Shamus Award-winning Allegretto (Death on the Rocks) breaks no new ground here. But Lomax is as charming as ever, occasionally droll, seldom brilliant but never stupid. He fears faxes and fast new cars and will doubtless never get real lucky in love, but he's a pleasure to hang out with, even when he's just going through the motions.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Denver businessman Roger Armis and his wife are private investigator Jake Lomax's clients. Mrs. Armis' first husband--Martin Blyleven--was killed in a plane crash while on a business trip for his employer, televangelist Franklin Reed. Now Mrs. Armis claims she's getting calls from her allegedly deceased husband demanding a huge ransom lest he snatch his daughter. Initially, Jake suspects a Blyleven scheme in which he embezzled cash from the wealthy reverend and substituted another body on the plane in order to fake his own death. Try as he might, Jake can't get the facts to conform to his theory. Adding to his confusion is a beating he suffers from some Mob toughs. Was Blyleven ripping off the Mob? The Reverend? Both? His wife? Or was Blyleven even alive? Jake has lots of questions to answer, and he plugs away until he forces the case to a surprising but very plausible conclusion. The fifth Lomax mystery is the real deal for PI fans: tough, funny, and surprisingly sensitive. Wes Lukowsky

Jake Lomax takes on the case of Roger and Vivian Armis, a couple who have been receiving threatening phone calls from a blackmailer who claims to be Vivian's late husband and who demands cash to keep him from reclaiming his mortal life.