The Alternative Detective

In his first mystery in decades, SF author Sheckley ( The Game of X ) offers a zany romp featuring Hob Draconian, a not-so-ex-hippie and proprietor of the Alternative Detective Agency in New Jersey. Hob has an amazing number of old bohemian pals, some of whom occasionally work for him while the rest seem intent on killing him for various indignities suffered during hazy drug-running days. Most of those days were spent on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza where Hob was happy and carefree before losing his first wife and foolishly marrying his second. Hob agrees to help his nephew trace an unpaid-for shipment of sailboards sent from the nephew's workshop to Ibiza. Next, a woman who calls herself Damascene asks him to find Alex Sinclair, another old friend from Ibiza days, who has since turned lawyer and Iran-Contra conspirator and is now missing in Paris. Every action of Hob's brings up the past, and while Sheckley's dialogue can be terminally wry, the narrative's playfulness is infectious and Hob is an undeniably interesting fellow to follow. (Oct.)