Dead on Arrival
A Pauline Sokol Mystery
Lori Avocato
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-06-083708-X (006083708X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-083708-2 (9780060837082)
Publication Date: July 2007
List Price: $6.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Normally, insurance fraud investigator Pauline Sokol
likes to keep her feet firmly on the ground. But her latest undercover
assignment has the aero-phobic ex-nurse flying high—as she takes
off to ground a land-and-air ambulance company that's been doing some
rather flighty billing. Even having ER Dano, the company's best (and
hottest!) paramedic, in the copter seat next to her isn't enough to
soothe her queasy tummy.
But her insides really start doing loop-de-loops when one of the
company's owners is brutally murdered—and Pauline starts
receiving creepy phone calls . . . from the killer! Suddenly the air
looks a lot safer than the ground. And if Pauline doesn't crack this
case soon, even mouth-to-mouth from her favorite paramedic won't be
enough to revive her.
Review:
Insurance investigator Pauline Sokol again dons her nurse's uniform to
look into some billing irregularities in her sixth case, Dead on Arrival by Lori Avocato.
The Scarpello and Tonelli Insurance Agency, for which Pauline works as
an investigator, suspects that a local ambulance service, TLC Air and
Land, has been falsely billing for services never rendered. Working
undercover as a nurse for the company, she quickly finds evidence to
confirm her agency's suspicions. But things get complicated when Payne
Sterling, who owns TLC with his twin sister Pansy, is murdered, and the
killer is all too willing to make Pauline his next victim.
The primary appeal of this series is accompanying Pauline as she gets
herself into and out of trouble during her investigation, following her
evolving relationship with the mysterious Jagger, and seeing how she
deals with the ruggedly handsome men with whom she finds herself
working. Plots have never been that important, and that is particularly
evident in this case. With Pauline discovering the incriminating
billing records and the murder of Payne taking place very early in the
book, one would think that her mission was accomplished, job well done,
time for the police to step in to solve the murder.
That wouldn't make for much of a story, however, so Pauline continues
to pry into the affairs of TLC. But there's an underlying sense that
everyone is simply biding their time until the killer is conveniently
identified and their motive revealed.
Fans of the series will likely enjoy the familiarity of Dead on Arrival. New readers may not be as enthusiastic.
Special thanks to Book Trends for providing an ARC of Dead on Arrival for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
A Dose of Murder
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2004
ISBN-10: 0-06-073165-6 (0060731656)
The Stiff and the Dead
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2005
ISBN-10: 0-06-073166-4 (0060731664)
One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2005
ISBN-10: 0-06-073167-2 (0060731672)
Deep Sea Dead
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2006
ISBN-10: 0-06-083700-4 (0060837004)
Nip, Tuck, Dead
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2006
ISBN-10: 0-06-083704-7 (0060837047)
Dead on Arrival
Avon Books (Mass Market Paperback), 2007
ISBN-10: 0-06-083708-X (006083708X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-083708-2 (9780060837082)
Omnimystery keywords for Dead on Arrival ...
Location(s) referenced: Connecticut.
