cover image He Who Dies

He Who Dies

W. W. Lee, Wendi Lee. Minotaur Books, $23.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-312-20894-3

Despite its bland title, Lee's latest offering in the Angela Matelli series (Deadbeat; Missing Eden; etc.) is a sharp, stylish mystery with a touch of humor. Boston PI Matelli is on a personal mission after her younger brother, Albert, who's a mob associate in Rhode Island, turns up missing. Encumbered by the insistent presence of their good Italian mama, Matelli begins a quest that turns ugly when a body is discovered in Albert's ritzy condo. Albert, a front man for the Providence Mafia, runs a legit company that manufactures the latest toy craze, the Itty Bitty Kitty. In the course of investigating the company's management, Angela meets Don Giovanni Testa, Providence mob boss, who just happens to be an old flame of her mother's. While poking fun at old-fashioned Mafia movies and nicknames, such as Johnny Smash and Nick the Knife, Lee turns dead serious when Angela begins to receive threatening messages, and someone leaves a human finger as a grisly warning in her car. Lee's prose is tight and flows at whirlwind speed, while the Italian family members, the Matellis as well as Don Testa, fill their roles admirably. The concluding confrontation, in which Angela puts her martial arts knowledge to good use, may come as no surprise, but getting there is one entertaining ride. (June)