In the interest of fair disclosure, I first met Randy Rawls
at the Hardboiled Heroes and Cats convention a few years back. A neat guy was
my initial assessment and that hasn’t changed since. Jasmine’s Fate a book
well worth your attention as is the entire series. For more books worth your
attention check out the list over at Patti Abbott’s blog….
Dallas, home of the fictional Lee Henry Oswald series written
by Harry Hunsicker, is also home to the fictional Arthur Conan Edwards, Ace to
his friends and his writer friend, Randy Rawls.
Stylistically opposite in extremes, both are always open to helping
damsels in distress. Especially if it is a redhead as Ace has a weakness for
redheads. Summoned by his good friend
Clint Ravel, lead detective on a homicide case, Ace leaves his two cats,
Sweeper and Striker, home alone to tear up the place while he drives over to
meet his latest potential client, Jasmine Loverly.
Ace is divorced, drives a convertible Chrysler Sebring, has
a good friend and neighbor, Mr. Harbinger (who keeps an eye out for him), knows
a very good lawyer by the name of Candi Maladay, and the fore mentioned two
cats and weakness for redheads. Jasmine
Loverly is definitely a redhead and definitely beautiful. She is also definitely, a suspect in the murder
of Doug Isendorf, III. He died from a
kitchen knife being shoved deep into his chest and the beautiful Jasmine, who
cries almost continuously, has his blood on her hands. His father is convinced
she did it and wants her buried under the jail. When she isn't crying, she's
gorgeous and before long, Ace is trying to clear her name while following a
trail that leads from Dallas/ Ft. Worth to
East Texas and back again.
Released through Hilliard and Harris, this latest novel in
the series was a first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Having met and talked with Randy Rawls at the
recent HHCC convention in Dallas,
I found his book to read just like Randy talks.
It’s a cozy style novel told from Ace's viewpoint with a cast of solid recurring
characters and an intriguing mystery.
Much like Randy, the work carries a quiet confidence that everything
will turn out in the end. The result is
a comfortable page turning read where the bad guys get theirs in the end, Ace
has his girl and his cats, and all is right with the world. Pop a Killian, Ace's drink of choice, and sit
back and enjoy.
Jasmine's Fate
By Randy Rawls
Hilliard and Harris
2007
ISBN #1-59133-215-X
Large Trade Paperback
223 Pages
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2012
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