Mahoney’s Camaro

Set in Winnipeg in the summer of 1985, this offbeat crime novel from Canadian author Clark (Clean Sweep) initially rumbles along as slowly as the truck Steve Mahoney drives for Hook Me Up, a towing company that engages in lucrative sidelines in illegal drug distribution and prostitution. Mahoney, seemingly the only non-crook on the staff, has been sent to pick up a car that drove off a bridge into the Red River. He arrives to find Detective-Sergeant Milroy and a covey of Winnipeg PD officers waiting for him. He pulls a Camaro from the muddy water and watches while the police remove the lifeless body of the driver. Milroy, after a cursory glance, declares the death a suicide. The car ends up at a salvage auction, where Mahoney puts in the winning bid. He gets the car, along with much more than he bargained for as the action speeds up with escalating capers and counter capers involving bad cops, pushers, pimps, sex workers, murderers, and even ghosts. Those looking for a giddy, goofy adventure will have fun. (June)