Buzz Riff

The hardest thing about loading your first mystery with all sorts of tricks, treats and relatively original concepts is what to do for an encore. Following his delightful debut, Buzz Monkey (2003), which introduced adrenaline junkie/international mercenary/arcane-quotation expert Tip Kiernan, Hill hits this wall hard in the sequel. There are some alluring leftovers: Tip can still tell us that "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" didn't come from either Abraham Lincoln or the Bible (it was the 16th-century Dutch philosopher Erasmus) and then, minutes later, take down a crew of three thugs hired to send a message. But almost perversely, Hill turns everything that was great fun in Buzz Monkey into a downer. Among other problems, Tip's quotation-checking business, Polymath, is failing after his partner/lover runs off with the company's money and clients. Somehow, the prospect of earning 20 grand for recovering a famous Confederate flag (the one used to staunch the blood of dying General Stonewall Jackson) doesn't get either Tip or the reader really excited: it's just a job, even if the outcome does involve what the book's promotional copy calls "a raucous jaunt" with some zany cohorts—all of whom had a much better time in Hill's first book.
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Athens, Georgia, mercenary Top Keirnan (Buzz Monkey, 2003) isn't thrilled about his latest gig--locating a famous Confederate flag for a controversial historian--but he needs the money. His research firm, a front for his off-the-books activities, is failing because an employee he fired for embezzling--and who was also his lover--has started a rival business that is stealing his clients. Keirnan's life sure is complicated, but this "buzz junkie" wouldn't have it any other way. His attempts to capture the flag introduce him to pedophiles, bikers, and white supremacists, while his other woes lead him to try dirty tricks, shady freelance work, and even legal maneuvers. Keirnan is lots of fun if a bit over the top: he remembers famous quotations verbatim and has a Holmesian eye for detail. He sleeps at center court in the gym of a lovingly restored 1930s-era elementary school. He's a bicyclist with bad knees. He's also tough, thoughtful, ruthless, and loyal. Supporting characters are less memorable, and pacing is uneven, but Hill's infectious enthusiasm somehow trumps these flaws. The second in a series with strong potential. Keir Graff
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