Tipping the Valet by K. K. Beck, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Tyler Benson works as a valet parking attendant at Alba's, an upscale restaurant in Seattle. He hopes to make enough money in tips to complete his undergraduate courses at the University of Washington. But those hopes may quickly be dashed when he hears that his father's former boss, Scott Duckworth, a multi-millionaire tech enthusiast, has reservations at the restaurant, in Tipping the Valet, a mystery in the workplace series by K. K. Beck.

Tyler regrets calling his father Roger with the news, as he shows up drunk to the restaurant wearing slippers. His timing is worse, as Duckworth shows up at the same time. Suddenly, shots can be heard coming from the street. Roger heads inside while Tyler finds the gun used in the shooting. The police think that Tyler and his father may be involved, and their suspicions grow larger when a dead body is found in the parking lot, in the trunk of a car that Tyler had parked. Could his situation get worse? Indeed. Feuding Russian gang members are using valets to steal high end cars, which are then chopped up, the parts shipped overseas. And the police think Tyler may be involved as well.

Tipping the Valet is a busy mystery, with lots of characters to keep track of and a constant flurry of activity. The primary storyline is , however, centered on Tyler the valet, and while it seems to drift from one crime subplot to another, it is fairly straight-forward to follow despite all the mayhem going on in the background. Relatively short at just over 200 pages, this makes for a quick and entertaining afternoon read.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Tipping the Valet.

Acknowledgment: Perseverance Press provided a copy of Tipping the Valet for this review.

Tipping the Valet

A Workplace Mystery by K. K. Beck