From Booklist
This collection of 13 previously published stories starring Nudger, Lutz's worrywart St. Louis detective, provides an entertaining introduction to one of the genre's most distinctive private eyes. Nudger, whose ever-present antacids protect a stomach that turns at the mere hint of danger, somehow manages to do his job without resorting to fists or handguns. The well-turned phrase is his most lethal weapon, whether he's seeking justice for an executed man proved innocent after the fact or coming to the aid of his friend Danny, proprietor of Danny's Donuts, who believes that his fellow shipmates from Vietnam are being killed one by one. Lutz, winner of both the Shamus and the Edgar, also holds a lifetime achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America. If Robert B. Parker's Spenser is the kick-butt, take-no-prisoners private eye we dream of being, then Nudger is the hand-wringing, Tums-popping, nonconfrontational sleuth who, we're forced to admit, seems much closer to home. Offbeat humor and clever plotting make each of these stories a delight.
Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
