Gumbo Limbo: An Alex Rutledge Mystery

The sharpest nose in the mystery business must belong to Corcoran: on almost every page of his smart second book featuring Key West crime scene photographer Alex Rutledge (after 1998's The Mango Opera), there's an olfactory imageAfrom the rot in Alex's yard to the smell of a woman in his bed. All the other senses are addressed vigorously, too, as Rutledge offers a street-by-street tour of the lively town at the end of America, with a side trip to the seedier parts of New Orleans. Corcoran is so slick he can suck in the reader with the corniest of plot clich?s: an urgent phone call from an old Navy buddy who then disappears, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies. Was financial wizard Zack Cahill kidnapped from his barstool at Sloppy Joe's because he knew about the huge payoff of a long-ago drug deal? Or is Cahill himself part of the scam? Why is Zack's ex-mistress in Key West, and who wants her dead? What part does the tantalizing police officer Teresa Barga play in the drama? And will Alex's friendly foe, Key West's cop Chicken Neck Liska, succeed in his run for sheriff? Corcoran lubricates his tangled plot with lashings of rum and beer and keeps it moving across a shrewdly observed landscape that reeks with authenticity. The gumbo is spicy, the limbo swift in this hot pepper of a novel. Author tour. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Through a lens darkly is the about the only way Key West crime-scene photographer Alex Rutledge (The Mango Opera, 1998) ever views his world. And, once again, murder, mayhem, and other foul deeds are vocational constants, while ogling pretty women in various degrees of undress also seems part of the job. So you don't hear Alex complaining a lot, even when he has to suffer one of those obligatory crime fiction beatings. Though never without its surprises, Alex's life takes a particularly startling turn with an early morning phone call from his old Navy buddy Zack Cahill. Zack is in a bar, drunk, at 8 a.m.not typical behavior even for erratic Zack. ``Get down here, amigo,'' he says. The place is only an eight-minute drive from Alex's house, but when he arrives his unpredictable friend is gone. In his wake are a bar tab and a gold Rolex left behind as surety while Zack reportedly returned to his hotel for a forgotten wallet. What hotel? And why a hotel as opposed to Alex's house, where he has so frequently stayed before? In the days that follow, Zack remains missing. Surfacing in his stead, however, is a collection of disturbing strangers with connections to hima trio of shady so-called business partners, a beautiful ex-mistress, and assorted banditos with itchy trigger fingers. Clearly, Zack is up to his irritating neck in something as nefarious as it is dangerous. Alex is amiable, the style breezy and amusing, but youll need to pack a sack with breadcrumbs to follow the mazelike plot. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Corcoran follows his fine debut, The Mango Opera (1998), with another satisfying installment in the adventures of Key West crime photographer Alex Rutledge. When Alex receives a surprise summons from his old buddy Zack, a Chicago investment banker, to join him at Sloppy Joe's for a morning beer, a distant alarm sounds. It chimes louder when Zack fails to show up at the bar, and soon enough, the conservative banker is linked to a couple of murders involving the loot from a marijuana-smuggling venture in the '80s. Alex's attempts to find Zack and clear him of the pending murder charges become snarled in a tangled plot of misplaced loyalties and familial grudges. Corcoran has a little too much plot on his hands here, but fortunately the demands of pulling all the strands together never distract the reader from the real pleasures of this series: the laid-back Key West atmosphere, the island lore, and the amusing byplay between Alex and his cronies. A solid series entry, though not quite up to the level of its predecessor. Bill Ott

Key West freelance photographer Alex Rutledge (The Mango Opera) hurries to meet a long-time banker buddy visiting from Chicago, but when he reaches the bar, his friend has disappeared. Alex grows worried when he subsequently recognizes a murder victim as a thug he saw at the same bar. The bad vibes continue after the banker's ex-mistress shows up asking for help: some apparently shady "investment" deal has gone bad. Alex dodges dangerAe.g., arson, burglary, and attempted murderAto find his friend. The colorful Florida background, a laid-back protagonist, and Corcoran's easy-to-read prose provide a welcome escape.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.