cover image LITTLE SISTER'S LAST DOSE: A New York Mystery

LITTLE SISTER'S LAST DOSE: A New York Mystery

Alex Minter, . . Pocket, $9.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-7434-6331-7

When a young runaway fatally ODs in a New York hotel room, her brother and an old childhood friend retrace her steps to prove she was murdered in Minter's edgy debut, the first of a trilogy featuring hard-boiled hipsters and amateur sleuths Soraya Navarro and Felix Novak. Beautiful 20-year-old Soraya, a Barnard sophomore, dates the manager of the nightclub where Penelope Novak was last seen alive; handsome Felix may have spent his formative years living in a trailer in Oregon, but in his determination to avenge his sister's death and confront his estranged father, he's as tough as the most jaded Manhattanite. Twelve years earlier, Soraya's dad, Billy, and Felix's dad, Franklin, were best friends and NYPD partners, but when a bungled drug bust left Billy dead, Franklin was accused of leaving him to die. As Felix tries to piece together the story of his sister's last days, he forges a shaky but crucial bond with his damaged, wise-cracking father, now a PI. The interpersonal connections are complex and multilayered, and at times stretch plausibility. With tough guys à la Chandler, brand names à la Bret Easton Ellis and a pop culture sensibility à la MTV and Page 6, this is a mishmash of influences that's sometimes bracing and other times exasperating: frankly, there's a touch too much attitude. Still, this is an ambitious, refreshing mystery in which the city is as much a character as the good and bad guys; it may bring mysteries to a new, young audience. (Apr. 22)