BLONDIE AND THE HITMAN, by Kathy Shaw, is the first of the
Darla Bodecker mysteries and is liberally sprinkled with humor, suspense, and a dash of
romance. Darla is not your average private eye. She’s not even your average
woman. She’s sexy, sassy, smart, and determined to solve each case given her.
Darla’s office and apartment are on the floor above Pete’s Diner in New York
City. Since Pete is more than her landlord, he lets Darla use his diner’s back
corner booth as her office most of the time. That’s where prospective clients
can find her drinking coffee and smoking while she talks to Pete.
In the opening, Darla is in her usual booth when a beautiful
blond woman slides in opposite Darla. The woman claims to have lost her memory
and says that frightening-looking men are following her and she doesn’t know
why. Darla dubs the woman Blondie and at first believes she is a co-conspirator
in one of Pete’s practical jokes. But when a menacing looking man appears and
follows Blondie out of the diner, Darla springs into action with her unique
detecting skills. She learns Blondie is the target of the Russian mob and must discover why and how to protect Blondie.
At times, Darla is not above coercing her cop ex-husband
Dutch to obtain information for her. Obviously Dutch is sorry he cheated on
Darla and lost her, but now he’s tied to the bimbo with whom he cheated. Darla
holds no illusions about her ex, but needs his help at times for details only
the police can access. When she needs other masculine help, it’s Pete who fills
the role. Pete is protective of Darla but knows better than to let her
know.
Darla leads a tempestuous and hilarious life. Readers who love Janet Evanovich will take
pleasure in reading this book. BLONDIE AND THE HITMAN is a fast-paced, fun read
in which Ms Shaw includes laugh out loud scenes featuring fresh
characterizations. I particularly liked Ms Shaw’s fresh voice and writing style
in this 134 page mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed BLONDIE AND THE HITMAN and
eagerly await the next Darla Bodecker mystery. I hope Ms Shaw writes fast!
I give BLONDIE AND THE HITMAN 5 out of 5 with an extra star
for originality.
About the author:
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| Kathy Shaw, Author |
Kathy Shaw is just as sassy, sexy, and smart as her Darla
Bodecker character. But Kathy doesn’t solve mysteries, she writes them along
with romances. She is the author of the humorous contemporary romances HIDE AND
SEEK and I DO, KINDA and the historical romance TWIN TRAP. One of her novellas
is featured in RETURN TO CUPID. Kathy is living happily ever after with her
hero husband in East Texas.
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