cover image Stand-In for Murder

Stand-In for Murder

Lynn Bradley. Walker & Company, $19.95 (203pp) ISBN 978-0-8027-3189-0

Rampant sexism, forced good-old-boy humor and disregard for basic police procedure torpedo this debut and the introduction of Houston PI Cole January. Waking up hungover one morning, January steps out of bed onto the cold breasts of a dead woman. The police, arriving immediately on an anonymous tip, identify the dead woman as socialite Molly Jones-Heitkamp. January begs off from making a statement to go to his office to see what he can dig up about the deceased. While there, he gets a call from a woman who says she is Molly Jones-Heitkamp and wants protection from someone who is trying to kill her. Using information gleaned from two friendly police officers, January tries to learn why someone would want to kill either the socialite or her stand-in, while his assistant and love-interest Leslie works on a missing person's case. Readers will have sorted out the mixed-up identities long before things are clear to the investigators in this cliche-ridden, much manipulated plot. (Aug.)