Short Squeeze
A Jackie
Swaitkowski Mystery
Chris
Knopf
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-55123-1 (0312551231)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-55123-0 (9780312551230)
Publication Date: January 2010
List Price: $24.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Meet Jackie Swaitowski, a smart-aleck attorney whose
legal turf is supposed to be the buzzing Hamptons real-estate market.
But when a new client turns up dead, things take a sudden and decidedly
dangerous turn. In a client's pocket is an envelope that contains a
shocking piece of evidence that suggests that the death was anything
but an accident.
Jackie has bigger fish to fry -- like her old flame Harry's surprise
return to town -- until a late-night car chase changes her priorities.
Now she has every reason to believe that the next name on the killer's
list is her own.
Review: Readers
familiar with Chris Knopf's Sam Acquillo mysteries will recognize the
character of his attorney, Jackie Swaitkowski, who is given her own
series that starts with a new client who promptly turns up dead in Short Squeeze.
Sergey Pontecello hires Jackie to help him remove his sister-in-law,
Eunice, from his home, who has returned following the death of his
wife, Elizabeth. He tells Jackie that the house and grounds were left
to Elizabeth and Eunice by their parents, but Eunice long ago signed a
quitclaim deed on the property leaving it exclusively owned by
Elizabeth and Sergey. Jackie quickly learns that Sergey's information
is correct, but he failed to tell her -- or maybe he just didn't know
-- that the property is mortgaged to the hilt against a credit line
provided by Eunice. When Sergey phones later that evening to complain
about Eunice locking him out of his bathroom, Jackie brushes it off as
frivolous -- until she's called by the police a few hours later. Her
card was in Sergey's shirt pocket, his dead body found by the side of
the road outside his home. Feeling slightly guilty about brushing him
off earlier, Jackie begins her own investigation, which takes an
ominous turn when her truck is forced off the road. Enlisting the help
of an old flame, she discovers an intricate web of family secrets --
and that someone is willing to go to any lengths to keep them that way.
The light, easy-going, at times brash, narrative style of Short Squeeze deceptively masks a
plot that is filled with unforeseen turns. Not plot twists per se, but
plot pathways that seem to be heading one way only to end in
delightfully unexpected places. What could have been a standard,
run-of-the-mill murder mystery, ends up being surprisingly refreshing
as a consequence.
Given that Jackie was introduced in another series by the author, and
that that other character makes an appearance in this book, it's
tempting to make comparisons between the two. But Knopf has
intentionally (and cleverly) written them in differing styles,
reflecting the distinct personalities of his series characters, making
comparisons not only difficult, but irrelevant. What trait they do
share, however, is the author's inherent ability to lead the reader in
one direction while subtly setting the stage for something completely
different -- and unanticipated -- to occur. It's all very well done and
Short Squeeze is highly
recommended.
Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of Short Squeeze for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Short Squeeze? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Short Squeeze
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), January 2010
ISBN-10: 0-312-55123-1 (0312551231)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-55123-0 (9780312551230)
Omnimystery keywords for Short Squeeze ...
Location(s) referenced: The Hamptons, Long Island, New York.
