cover image Tiny Little Troubles

Tiny Little Troubles

Marc Lecard, . . St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (339pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36022-1

Lecard follows his acclaimed debut, Vinnie's Head (2007), with a second crime novel that deftly mixes dark humor with a fast-moving plot. Pablo Clench, who manages the nightshift at a San Francisco strip club, stumbles on the chance of a lifetime after surveillance of his lust-interest, exotic dancer Aphrodite Anderson, leads him to her lover, Aaron Rogell, an inventor who's made some amazing breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology. Clench manages to infiltrate Rogell's company after persuading the head of human resources to retire, and gradually inserts his own people into positions of authority. Clench eventually shows his hand, but threats of blackmail and extreme bodily harm fail to get Rogell to divulge the secret of his invention. When Rogell's wife, Amanda, learns of his philandering, she hires Tony Baloot, a sad-sack PI, to get the goods on Rogell. The various plot lines converge in a farcical blend of violence and satire that will have many readers grinning in spite of themselves. (July)