From Publishers Weekly
What begins as unlikely ends as unseemly in this self-reflective first novel by a reviewer of mysteries. Narrator Kyle Malachi, writing as Stokes Moran, is a syndicated mystery reviewer working on his first mystery novel. His "beautiful agent," Lee Holland, convinces him to take a $25,000 assignment from Playboy to find and interview a reclusive bestselling mystery author. The only clue to Seymour Severe's whereabouts is the New Orleans setting of his books. Kyle goes there, spends some time in a dark gay bar, passes out and wakes up in bed next to a naked, dead boy. He flees back to Connecticut, but Lee convinces him he's been hoaxed and must return to the Crescent City where the puzzle finally assembles itself--without any help from Kyle. Arch and awkward, the narrative is punctuated with quotes from Stokes's reviews and insider references to other writers. Worse, though, the plot turns out to be a trick one, cheating readers.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
McGaughey, a mystery reviewer for a Jackson, Mississippi paper, should have enough experience to know what sets a best-selling crime tale apart from just another wannabe. Knowing what it takes and being able to produce it, however, are very different things. This mishmash of various writing styles and approaches mixes a lighthearted (but quite implausible) plot, a fun (but highly improbable) ending, and a likable (but amazingly gullible) hero. Mystery reviewer Stokes Moran is pleasantly surprised when his agent tells him that Playboy has offered $25,000 if Stokes can find and interview elusive crime writer Seymour Severe. Based on a few flimsy tips, Stokes decides Severe lives in New Orleans and travels there to track him downapparently by simply wandering the streets of the French Quarter and hoping real hard. His plan goes awry when he's drugged and wakes up in bed with a corpse. Eeek! But Stokes isn't about to roll over and play dead. This is a mildly amusing and entertaining book, but, unfortunately, it doesn't prove that mystery critics make great novelists.
Emily Melton
