Monday With Kaye: "Collared" by L.A. Kornetsky (Reviewed by Kaye George)

Surprising this week’s review from Kaye George for her very popular “Monday With Kaye” segment does not feature zombies. Instead, it is a mystery AND the first one of a series available in print and e-book forms.

Collared by L.A. Kornetsky

Subtitled A Gin and Tonic Mystery this Seattle mystery marks the debut of an unlikely pair. Gin is Ginny Mallard, a personal concierge. Tonic is Teddy Tonica, a bartender who could be much more, Ginny thinks. Their initial connection is through the Tuesday Trivia games at Mary’s, the bar where Tonica works. The two are on rival teams (tied for second place at the moment) and, as fierce competitors, don’t think they like each other much.

Ginny is approached, at the bar where Tonica can overhear the transaction, by a man who wants to hire her for something outside her area of expertise. He wants her to locate his missing uncle, Joseph Jacobs, and gives her a hard and fast deadline. She knows she should turn him down, but he’s offering a lot of money. And he’s a member of one of the trivia teams.

When Ginny becomes desperate (she should never have taken this job--she’s not a PI), Tonica steps in to help her out. She excels as research, but he has the people skills she lacks.

Two other characters deserve a mention. Mistress Penny-Drops, a small gray tabby cat, considers Tonica her human, although he doesn’t consider himself her owner. She roams in and out of the bar at will and keeps track of things. She’s best friends with Georgie, Ginny’s adorable shar-pei. Georgie is usually tethered somewhere, so can’t get out like Penny can, but the two of them keep tabs on their humans and assist where needed.

The sexual tension builds amid witty banter as the job turns out to be not at all what they thought. They’re in way over their heads, but events transpire to keep them on the trail of information as the missing person case threatens to turn deadly.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of Broke for Suspense Magazine