Broad humor, in more than one sense, permeates Strohmeyer's fourth amusing adventure (after 2003's Bubbles Ablaze
) of Bubbles Yablonsky, Lehigh, Pa.'s unique combination of hairdresser, single mother, aspiring journalist and bumbling sleuth. Bubbles doesn't so much solve a crime as wait until all the dust settles and then see what's left standing. While the management and the workers at Lehigh Steel wage class war, the irrepressible Bubbles tries to parlay her degree from Two Guys Community College and a one-week tryout at the News-Times
into a full-time reporting gig. The appearance on her doorstep of Carol Weaver, convicted for the murder of her husband, a Lehigh Steel executive, newly escaped from prison and claiming that someone is trying to kill her, may be just the break Bubbles needs. Strohmeyer expertly plays Bubbles's blue-collar working class background against the monolithic Lehigh Steel's country club types and their wives. On the other hand, Strohmeyer's targets are so big that just hitting them isn't enough, and the frequent bull's-eyes don't impress as much as they might. Bubbles may be Two Guys' "Biggest Loser Ever," but she's good-hearted, persistent and very, very funny. Agent, Heather Schroder at ICM. (On sale June 7)
