Review: "BLONDIE AND THE HIT MAN" by Kathy Shaw ---Guest Reviewer Caroline Clemmons

It has been a long time since Texas author Caroline Clemmons reviewed here so please give her a warm welcome back to the blog as she reviews Blondie And The Hitman by Kathy Shaw today. Then make sure you head on over to Caroline’s Blog here and check out what she has going on….

Review of BLONDIE AND THE HIT MAN, a humorous mystery

By Caroline Clemmons

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. Darla learns Blondie is the target of the Russian mob and must discover why while she protects her client.

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.

Caroline Clemmons ©2014

Caroline Clemmons writes Romance and Adventure
www.carolineclemmons.com