Rest for the Wicked by Ellen Hart, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Restaurateur Jane Lawless, now a newly licensed private investigator in practice with her friend Alf Nolan, steps out on her own when Nolan's nephew is murdered and Nolan is hospitalized in Rest for the Wicked, the twentieth mystery in this long-running series by Ellen Hart.

DeAndre Moore had just arrived in Minneapolis from St. Louis, when he places a frantic phone call to his uncle, Nolan, leaving a message on their answering service. But before either Nolan or Jane can listen to it, DeAndre is dead, knifed in the back. He was found in the alley outside a "gentleman's club", the Gaudy Lights. When Nolan is sidelined, requiring emergency surgery on his leg, Jane takes over the investigation. She learns that DeAndre was looking for his sister, but that's something new to Nolan. To his knowledge, DeAndre had no siblings, adopted by Nolan's own sister when he was child. Separately, another murder happens, a man named Royal Rudmann, who is found shot to death in a motel room. He had recently been released from a psychiatric prison facility, but was also from St. Louis. The connection between the two men is all but non-existent, and yet, Jane can't help wonder if the two killings may be related.

Rest for the Wicked is a solidly plotted, multi-faceted mystery with several intersecting storylines. There are many fascinating characters — loyal, deceitful, quirky and intense. Jane gets her first experience in being rebuffed by the police, who invariably do not like PIs getting involved in criminal matters. But through it all, Jane is a caring, endearing woman, who will go to any and all lengths to solve a problem, whether it be personal or, now that she's in the business of private investigation, professional.

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

Acknowledgment: Minotaur Books provided a copy of Rest for the Wicked for this review.

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Minotaur Books (Hardcover), September 2011
ISBN-13: 9780312614775; ISBN-10: 0312614772

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Minotaur Books (Hardcover), October 2013
ISBN-13: 9781250001870; ISBN-10: 1250001870

Rest for the Wicked

A Jane Lawless Mystery by Ellen Hart