cover image Hit & Run

Hit & Run

Maxine O'Callaghan. St. Martin's Press, $14.95 (182pp) ISBN 978-0-312-02584-7

O'Callaghan's Southern California private eye, Delilah West, will win yet more hearts with the sequel to her debut in Death Is Forever. Earning a bare living after her husband/partner was killed, the widow endures more mishaps, including being sideswiped by a speeding car. The driver races off, leaving the body of an old man, Joseph Collins, and Delilah a witness to the hit-run. Arrested for the crime, teenager Mike Morales claims the man he ran over was already dead. When the boy's mother begs the detective to investigate, Delilah questions elderly retirees at Collins's hotel residence and his family members. The case seems hopeless and Delilah, nearly starving on a mere pittance, is tempted to give up, to accept a high-paying post on a prosperous firm of private operatives. The thrills mount up in the funny, poignant, surprising mystery that ends with Delilah triumphant and still her endearingly independent self. (Mar.)