Rex Anderson: Lawnmower Blues

Five Star (Hardcover), ISBN 1-59414-320-X

Rex Anderson's mystery delves into both the comic and sad parts of humankind in their many and varied aspects. Lawnmower Blues embodies all that makes a mystery mysterious, intriguing, and un-put-downable: a 33-year-old puzzle, a death listed as suicide (but was it?) an old, rusted lawnmower, an ex-bartender lottery winner, and a very broke and exceptionally inept private investigator.

Well-versed in hyperbole, Tony Aapt spends time in a local watering hole, regaling the bartender with his exploits and the vast sums of money he gets for his detecting. In reality, Tony subsists on "domestic reconnaissance," which means nothing until the bartender, Maggie Hawk, wins a lottery and hires Tony to investigate the "murder" of her husband and the theft of his valuable invention. Both things happened slightly over three-decades previously. She pays him a large retainer -- which he needs to pays some long-standing bills. Knowing full-well he lacks whatever it takes for the job, Tony accepts and begins his first real job as a sleuth.

However, Tony finds, beyond a long, diverse, and utterly captivating cast of suspects, sleuthing can lead to murder -- maybe his own. And what about the old lawnmower? How does it determine the motive? Ah, those become very real questions -- ones that only a full reading of the book can answer. (I wouldn't want this review to deprive you of that joy.)

If quirky characters, a marvelously contrived plot, a Texas setting and even a cat-from-hell top your To Read Immediately list, then I recommend you grab this book and prepare to keep reading until the very end. One of my favorite authors, Rex Anderson knows how to entertain, involve, and engage the reader's senses and sensibilities -- and how to keep the reader wanting more.

It should come as no surprise that I loved Lawnmower Blues.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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