As often happens in the series one case heads to
another and such is the case here in the latest in the Drifter Detective Series, Dinero Del
Mar. The year is 1958 and Jack Laramie is in Harlingen, Texas. Once
again drinking is involved and this time the establishment is the “Blue Barn” a
local dance Hall. He may be fueled by alcohol, but Jack knows beauty when he
sees it and the dark haired beauty Bea Eckert is quite the sight.
Jack just recently finished a case he worked for a
local rancher named Chat McPherson and word has gotten out about what Jack does
for a living. Cole Eckert happens to be
the brother of Bea and he wants to hire Jack. That means they need to go
outside and talk about a situation as the sun slides down the south Texas sky
and Jack tries to sober up enough to conduct business. Cole eventually explains
how Bea has a great future in front of her if she can get out of Harlingen. To
do that she needs to win the local event known as “The Miss Texas Pink
Grapefruit Beauty Contest.” Dedicated to the legendary Texas pink grapefruit
the winner gets 500 bucks and her face plastered on every grapefruit shipping
crate across the state. It also gives her some credibility when Bea and her
agent/brother Cole go to Nashville or California.
Cole is sure the contest is rigged and wants private
detective Jack Laramie to investigate. Once Jack proves that it is rigged they
could take the story to the media and force a new contest that would be fair
and square and thus Bea would finally be rightfully crowned. Jack doesn’t think
much of their case, but the allure of Bea is something too powerful to resist.
Before long he is deeply investigating all facets of a case. A case that will
eventually merge with another before this good read ends.
Book five in the series that began with The
Drifter Detective is another
good one. Through the books the years have passed and the nightmare of the war
may have lessened some, but Jack Laramie, continues to drive his aging Desoto
as it pulls his horse trailer home around the state working cases. Cases where alcohol
often plays a role as does the greed and vice of others. They may not be the
mean streets of a city on the west coast, but these Texas streets and the
people on them are often just as mean. Dinero Del Mar: The Drifter Detective Series
is another solidly good that can be read as a stand-alone. However, it really should
be read in conjunction with the others as the latest installment of a very good
series.
Dinero
Del Mar: The Drifter Detective Series
Garnett
Elliott
Beat
To A Pulp
August
2014
ISBN#: 978-0990591610
E-book
(also available in print)
118
Pages
$1.99
E-book version supplied by the publisher in exchange
for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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