Mystery, Murder, Magpies, and a Mall

Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan

Junior Bender is one of my favorite characters. He is a professional burglar living in Los Angeles and constantly finds himself in trouble - not so much with the police as with his nefarious acquaintances.

Fields Where They Lay is the sixth novel in the series. And it is a doozy. It's Christmas - but this is definitely not your idealized warm and cozy holiday season. The action here takes place almost exclusively in a failing and slightly seedy shopping mall. Junior has been hired - well, rather coerced by a Russian mafia guy and partner in the mall - into investigating incidences of serious shoplifting going on. Between choruses of Christmas carols looping over the mall's PA system, dealing with two sad Santas, and looking over his shoulder for the thug sent either to keep an eye on him or kill him, Junior gets to riff, in funny way, on Christmas chaos, consumerism, and greed. Not to mention shady real estate deals, this being California and all.

Like I said, not your Norman Rockwell view of Christmas, but fun none the less. 

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

I couldn't resist this mystery with a typewriter on its front cover! This first novel by Judith Flanders concerns the sudden disappearance of gossipy style and fashion author Kit Lovell. His London publisher, Samantha "Sam" Clair, seems to be the only one who thinks something fishy is going on and sets out to track down Kit's whereabouts. In the process, Sam stumbles onto a money laundering scheme, commits a bit of breaking and entering, makes a trip to a fashion house in Paris, and finds romance. Not bad for her first outing as an amateur sleuth.

I enjoyed most of the action, although there were a lot of characters to keep track of and I never have understood 'money laundering' so the conversations (and there were many) about that I sort of skimmed over. But the insights into the machinations of the publishing biz were entertaining. Quite a few zingers!

Ms. Flanders has written several books about the Victorian era. I am happy she has moved into examining the modern world of book publishing and I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Sam Clair.

Crashed by Timothy Hallinan

My first book finished in 2014 is a mystery by a new-to-me author, Timothy Hallinan. Crashed introduces professional burglar Junior Bender who has been in the business for two decades without ever getting caught. Until now. 

His latest heist, stealing a Paul Klee painting (while holding off four vicious-crazy Rottweilers), is captured on security film. This leads not to jail but to being blackmailed into helping the head of an organized crime family. Trey Annunziato wants to produce an adult film trilogy that will make her enough money to get her out of the business of crime once and for all. Production on the film is being sabotaged and it is up to Bender to find out who is messing with the schedule. If he doesn't, those Rottweillers are going to have a Bender Dinner. Complicating matters, the film's star is to be one Thistle Downing, beloved former child television star and now a down and out junkie, who has a habit of disappearing.  

I know this sounds bleak, but it's not. Mr. Hallinan has fun poking fun at just about every profession  in the Hollywood film industry, Los Angeles traffic, the above mentioned Rottweillers, coked-up art collectors, crooked cops, the tabloid press, and stage mothers.

Junior Bender may be a crook but he also knows how to do the right thing. I found him to be witty and charming. And, of course, he is very resourceful and fixes everything in the end. 

Mr. Hallinan has two other series. One features Simeon Grist an English professor turned private eye which bears looking into. The other stars Poke Rafferty who lives in Bangkok. There are also two more Junior Bender books to add to my list, Little Elvises and The Fame Thief. 

It is always best to start a new year with a laugh or two and Junior Bender provides plenty of them.