Jigsaw by Jerry Kennealy

Friends of San Francisco entertainment critic Carroll Quint are being offed by a killer who sends Quint e-mail clues to do with Alfred Hitchcock movies. Unfortunately for Quint with all his ties to the victims, he is a suspect in the eyes of the police. Along with his ex-actress mom and his comely girlfriend, Quint investigates to not only to stop the killer but also to get a big story for his paper.

This is a new series for Jerry Kennealy and a new author for me since I have never read any of his books. I enjoyed the characters very much. In fact, the whole time I was reading, I felt that the style of book, humorous crime fiction, reminiscent to an author I used to read. All I remembered was the character's name was Archie and he lived in West Palm Beach. Google is my friend, and found out I was thinking of the Archie McNally series by Lawrence Sanders. I stopped reading after LS passed away and someone else took over writing the series. It was never the same. I think I might have found another series to take its place.

As in new series the introduction of many new characters can feel overwhelming and there were many, many characters in this relatively short book. It got a bit confusing at times. The plot was didn't exactly scream realism, but when on of the victims is killed with a leg of lamb, you really can't expect that. The antics were a bit over-the-top especially the final chum-bait scenes, but it all made for a rollicking good read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.


Technorati Tags: Jerry Kennealy, Jigsaw, crime fiction, review, Carroll Quint, Archie McNally