Practice to Deceive - Softcover

Housewright, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0425173127 ISBN 13: 9780425173121

Publisher: Berkley, 2000

Synopsis

St. Paul investigator Holland Taylor finds himself pursued by a hired killer when he tries to recover money for an elderly woman cheated out of her life savings and must untangle a complicated web involving prominent people and large investments

About this title

Review:

At first, reading about Holland Taylor might seem like déjà vu. He's a former cop turned private detective; he has an African American associate who covers his back, a high-level friend on the police force, and a smart lady who tries to keep him on the straight path. He also practices martial arts, brews exotic coffee, and favors a special brand of local beer. But author David Housewright isn't doing a Spenser rip-off; he's just having fun telling a good story while ringing a few changes on Robert Parker. Taylor works out of Minnesota's Twin Cities, a long way from Spenser's Boston, and Housewright's plot is as open-faced as his genial homage. Asked by his father to help an 85-year-old neighbor recover the life savings stolen from her by an oily investment counselor, Taylor uses a cross-dressing computer genius to harass the swindler. Things quickly turn nasty and lots of shots are fired--some are deadly. Housewright's Edgar Award-winning first book about Taylor, Penance, is available in paperback.

About the Author:

David Housewright has worked as a journalist covering both crime and sports (sometimes simultaneously), an advertising copywriter and creative director, and a writing instructor. He won the Edgar Award for his first novel, Penance, and the Minnesota Book Award for Practice to Deceive. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

About this edition

• Publisher: Berkley
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0425173127
• ISBN 13: 9780425173121
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 275