In this complex, offbeat mystery, Kent's second (after 2002's Street Money) to feature N.S. "Shep" Ladderback, the agoraphobic obituary writer for the Philadelphia Press, Shep looks into a series of bizarre food-related deaths. First, local fruit and vegetable vendor Sidney "Weight" Wisnitz suddenly keels over at his stand spitting up blood. Next, restaurant critic Michelle Fragg (known as "The Angry Eater") drops dead in a similar fashion at her ex-lover Matt Plank's trendy new Transylvanian/Caribbean "fusion" restaurant, Loup Garou. Shep's assistant, Andrea "Andy" Cosicki, who witnesses Fragg's death, suspects foul play and traces both deaths back to an experimental appetite suppressor produced by Alixxir, a local pharmaceutical company that manufactures cheap knock-offs of brand name drugs. As Shep and Andy dig deeper into the matter, they find similarities with the recent death of Philadelphia mobster Carmen "Chickie" Marandola, whose body was dismembered and hidden all over town (only his pinkie finger was recovered). The truth behind the murders proves to be closer to the two journalists, and to their own pasts, than they could have imagined. Kent explores various notions of hunger—the craving for wealth, power, food and sex, among other things—in this literate, character-driven crime novel, which straddles the line between hardboiled detective story and thriller. Mystery fans of all stripes should go for it. Agent, Jake Elwell. (Oct. 6)
Forecast: Kent hasn't sold yet to paperback, which is a pity. A blurb from a big-name author or two could help bring him to the attention of the wider readership he deserves.
