Lair of the Lizard (First Edition)

When private detective Tony Lowell investigates the disappearance of a young woman, a friend of his daughter, in New Mexico, he enlists the aid of fellow sleuth Joshua Croft and a New Age mystic to find the missing woman.

The most interesting moment in Ayres's fourth book (after last year's Night of the Panther) about Florida PI Tony Lowell comes when Lowell meets up with another PI named Joshua Croft in Santa Fe and finds him boozy and "semi-retired... a man of leisure." Croft is the hero of three well-received books by Walter Satterthwait set in that New Mexico city (Accustomed to the Dark, etc.). Other than this apparent homage among literary friends, little else in this routine outing rises to a level of fascination. Lowell, a ponytailed Vietnam vet and former top photographer of the glitterati, now lives in rural Florida, where he restores an old boat and does as little detective work as possible. But when his wide-eyed daughter, Ariel, asks him to find Alicia Sandoval, a friend from a New Age seminar in Santa Fe who seems to be fleeing from an abusive husband, Lowell drops his tools and takes off for that trendy city. Almost immediately, he's threatened by teenage Latino gangsters and gets involved in racial and familial strife. The social details ring true, but Ayres's soured tourist's take on the evils of Santa Fe quickly grows tediousAespecially in contrast to the more measured judgments to be found in Satterthwait's books.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a fourth outing, Tony Lowell, photographer/p.i. (Night of the Panther, 1997, etc.), doting daddy that he is, succumbs to twitchy daughter Ariel's blandishments and leaves Florida's Gulf Coast, where he has been snugly content, for Santa Fe. Therebefore you can say culture shockhe grows perfectly miserable. What could be making a Nervous Nellie out of Ariel? Well, it seems that she, who marches to all manner of different New Age drummers, has intuited that a friend of hers is in trouble. Since Lowell is a papa for whom daughterly pouting carries the force of command, he hops a plane. And, of course, it turns out that Ariel is correct: Alicia Sandoval is being stalked by her former husband, mean and mad Danny Lopez. Still, everyone in Santa Feincluding the Sandoval family, the police force, and an incredibly insensitive array of other localsregards Danny as not much more than slightly wild. Never mind that on various occasions he has publicly humiliated Alicia, beaten her, sent her to the hospital, and finally raped her. The prevailing attitude: these things happen, and Lowell, ``the outsider Anglo dude,'' just doesn't get it. Ethnic tradition, he's told, supports a man's right to monitor his woman's behavior. Then suddenly Alicias on the run again, with Danny running after her (wielding his switchblade). Now, as Dannys about to become homicidal, Lowell at last snags Santa Fe's attention. But still, unfortunately, there's not much here to snag a reader's beyond an assembly-line sleuth and humdrum story. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Retired photojournalist Tony Lowell's fourth adventure finds him looking for Alicia Sandoval, a friend of Lowell's daughter, Ariel. The two women met at a New Age workshop in Santa Fe. Just divorced, Alicia was terrified of her violent ex-husband. Ariel hasn't heard from Alicia for several weeks and fears trouble. Lowell thinks his daughter is overreacting, but he agrees to fly to Santa Fe and check it out. There he learns that Alicia's ex-husband is threatening her, and no one--including the local cops--seems too concerned. Meanwhile, Alicia has disappeared. Lowell's persistence--plus some timely help from a local PI and a New Age mystic--finally cracks the case. Ayres' books are taut, tense, and action packed, with a strong male hero and provocative commentary on morality and social ills. The pronounced resemblance to Travis McGee and Spenser will delight fans of those two major mystery icons. Emily Melton

Tampa Bay-area PI Tony Lowell finds himself in New Mexico looking for a missing friend of his daughter. While there, he enlists the aid of a local investigator and a mystic. Instant atmosphere and telling drama.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.