Crooked Man

Dunbar's (Delta Time) first novel is less a mystery-the murder occurs at the halfway point and is witnessed by the reader-than a deliciously witty caper through the idiosyncratic landscape of New Orleans, where crickets sing in the weeds that grow up through the curbs and St. Patrick's Day paraders toss crawfish and potatoes from floats. Tubby Dubonnet is a lawyer who likes fishing, beer and off-track betting. His clients include a cross-dresser referred by the very doctor he's suing for a botched skin-creolizing, and a lakefront bar owner who has held on to a nearly $1 million payoff after a shrimpboat marijuana bust. The bar owner hands over the money locked in a gym bag to Tubby, then is murdered, leaving behind a death scene portrayed with jarring comic understatement. Tubby grapples with the temptation of riches and the threats of claimants, and, as he sorts out the rogues from and among the buttoned-downs, he dispatches the villain and finds a home for the cash in a conclusion that's as cleverly convoluted and amusing as the rest of this tale, the first in a projected series. (Jan.)