New York PI Desiree Shapiro, last seen in Murder Can Botch Up Your
Birthday
, doesn't like to accept cases until after the victim is dead. But when the charming Gordon Curry shows up in her office claiming that there have already been two attempts on his life and he wants her to prevent the third, she can't say no, especially since he supplies her with his predator's name. Two days later, Curry is shot down on a quiet Chelsea street after a poker game, and Desiree learns that the man who Curry thought wanted him dead committed suicide two months earlier. Distraught, the plus-sized detective almost loses her appetite, but not quite, especially when she learns there were a slew of sordid secrets about Curry's life that he neglected to mention to her. With the help of a few colorful New York characters, including a curmudgeonly policeman, Desiree puts together a list of suspects and interviews them all in grand Hercule Poirot fashion, sacrificing sleep and other life necessities to do so. A hasty, underdeveloped ending doesn't do justice to this otherwise tightly constructed cozy. But tantalizing meal descriptions, old-school New York charm and even a touch of romance make this book worth gobbling up. Agent, Stuart Krichevsky. (Feb.)
