Synopsis:
Tough Los Angeles private detective Zen Moses finds an unwelcome surprise over a glass of beer in her favorite bar, Father's Office, when she stumbles over the body of her murdered long-lost cousin. A first novel.
Review:
Move over Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller--here comes Elizabeth Cosin with a heroine who's a worthy rival to Kinsey Millhone and Sharon McCone. Zen Moses is a hip, fresh, cigar-smoking PI who's so tough she's beat lung cancer, but she's still vulnerable enough to admit her attraction to Jonathan Brooks, a Santa Monica homicide cop she meets in this first of what will thankfully be a series of mysteries. When Zen (short for Zenaria) finds a dead man wrapped around a beer keg in the walk-in cooler at Father's Office, her favorite L.A. watering hole, she's only a little surprised. When she turns the body over for a closer look, however, she discovers that the victim is her cousin Danny--a man who supposedly died in a mass suicide with other cult victims 15 years earlier. It's enough to make a girl forget she's facing an IRS audit. Danny's father, an uncle from whom she's long been estranged, asks her to investigate, and she's quickly off and running. The plot is strewn with clues that add up to an intriguing solution, but the real star is California craziness as seen through the eyes of the funny, engaging Zen (who manages a wisecrack on every page). With a strong voice and a unique heroine, Zen and the Art of Murder is a promising debut that's just right for a rainy night. --Jane Adams
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