Thicker Than Blood: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Private Investigator Nudger

Welcome in his eighth appearance, after Diamond Eyes , is St. Louis PI Alo Nudger, a decent, believable sleuth whose cooking isn't four-star, whose dialogue isn't from Comedy Central and who, while perfectly able to handle a gun, would rather not. Here, in a fairly ho-hum plot, he's hired by a comely lady from the Ozarks to investigate securities fraud. Like most comely ladies who hire detectives in the first chapter, Norvella Beane turns out to be a liar, but even as her duplicitous ways become clear, Nudger stays on the case. He stakes out a stockbroker, is confronted by a gunman wearing a swastika earring and is soon involved both with St. Louis drug dealers and in the ugly dynamics of the broker's family. When the bodies begin to add up, and they do, each new victim comes as a surprise. No surprise, however, is the outcome of Nudger's attempt to profit from an overheard conversation between two stockbrokers. Right. If Nudger invested in pine trees, somebody would cancel Christmas . Though this isn't his most compelling adventure, Nudger's good company anyway. (Nov.)