And Then There Were Ten

Mystery critic and sometime-sleuth Stokes Moran gets involved in blackmail--and something worse--when an aging Hollywood agent's lurid past catches up with him

With this second Stokes Moran adventure, following Otherwise Known as Murder, mystery critic McGaughey pays homage to the genre and the writers who make it look easy. Kyle Malachi, who, as Stokes Moran, is a syndicated mystery reviewer, is reluctantly drawn into a case of great delicacy by his no-nonsense fiancee, Manhattan literary agent, Lee Holland. Lee's 80-year-old mentor, Izzy Cohen, agent to the superstars, has himself a situation: a pornographic film made by his lover years earlier and involving men who subsequently became high-profile celebrities has been stolen. Can blackmail be far behind? Reluctantly, Kyle, a nice, sensitive guy, agrees to find the tape and the culprit. While he and Lee interview the 10 possible victims, one of whom may also be the thief, Kyle-as-Stokes works on his list of the 10 best mystery novels ever written, allowing the proficiency of the great detectives he considers to contrast amusingly with his own tentative sleuthing. Readers are likely, however, to wish for snappier, less self-conscious writing in the next Moran escapade.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

McGaughey, a mystery reviewer by profession, concocts a tongue-in-cheek story that's chock-full of allusions to famous mystery writers, classic whodunits, and the legend and lore of the genre. After a thrilling detecting debut in New Orleans (Otherwise Known as Murder ), Stokes Moran, nationally syndicated mystery reviewer, is back home in Connecticut, ready for some R&R with his steady girlfriend, Lee Holland. Things change. Lee's mentor, Izzy Cohen, asks Lee and Stokes to help him thwart a potential blackmailer. Back in his salad days, Izzy and his partner made and starred in porno films featuring then-unknown actors who later made it big in Hollywood. Izzy fears that copies of the films will fall into the hands of someone who will use them to blackmail him or the other unwitting "stars." But there's more to Izzy's predicament than he lets on, and it's only after Lee and Stokes are knee-deep in corpses that they figure out the real scoop. A mildly entertaining story with enough mystery-related quips, quotes, and quirks to satisfy mystery aficionados. Emily Melton