cover image Spare Parts

Spare Parts

Rick Hanson, PH.D.. Zebra, $20 (231pp) ISBN 978-0-8217-4738-4

This smart, snappy mystery debut introduces Portland, Oreg., sculptor Adam McCleet, a former cop whose creations generally feature women and large sea creatures. McCleet sells his work at a gallery whose gorgeous, savvy owner, Alison Brooks, wears skimpy underwear which McCleet often gets to see. Here, the artist's pushy, viper-tongued sister badgers him into searching for her missing husband, Phil, an orthodontist who has disappeared during a convention, leaving his bed unslept in and his dental floss unused. Things look grim. While tracking Phil, (who finally turns up alive, but minus a kidney), McCleet also flushes a serial killer who preys on well-heeled tourists. Despite some hackneyed characters and a few too many jokes (nearly all of them good) that sometimes slow the pace, Hanson generates a high-energy tale that will leave readers eager for a sequel. (Oct.)