Poison Blonde (Amos Walker Mysteries) [Hardcover]

This time out, Walker is hired by a susperstar female Latin singer with a very dark and sordid past. A onetime revolutionary in her home country, she fled to the U.S. under an assumed identity after being accused of murder. When the person whose identity she assumed turns up missing after blackmailing her, she hires Walker to find the blackmailer before her secret becomes public.

The plot draws Walker into web of intrigue, pitting him against his usual assortment of gangsters, cops and other assorted heavies. Though "Poison Blonde" breaks no new ground for the series, it is delivered with such fresh and inventive prose that it is a more than worthwhile read. Fans of hardboiled mysery novels owe it to themselves to get hooked on Amos.

Poison Blonde belongs to Mr. Estleman's distinguished series featuring private detective, Amos Walker, who haunts the night in Detroit. His work is his life, and vice versa.

Poison Blonde brings him a job working for a hot young recording star, Ms. Gilia Cristobal. The young woman is not whom she seems, and the many ex-cons around her bring Walker onto his guard. One of them is a man he helped put away for life. The music industry scenes ring true, and could have come out of a tabloid. The Detroit color is, as always, solid and striking. The thugs are as stupid and gratuitously cruel as anyone would want.

The character of Gloria Cristobal is a particularly interesting one, and adds a lot to the story. She is one of Mr. Estleman's best characters in years.

The story is fast-paced and engrossing, and I found myself unable to put the book down until I had finished it.

Why did I grade the story down one star? There are mysteries here, but their explanations are the obvious ones that would occur to any reader in the first few seconds. Mr. Estleman does a pretty good job of making them seem more mysterious than they are by putting in lots of color, but at bottom there's not much here to exercise your mental processes.

After you finish enjoying this book, I suggest that you take the time to get to know someone better whom you think you know. Look for the depths behind the obvious social facade. Take what you find and use it to look deeper into the hearts of all those you meet.

Author Loren D. Estleman is a master of dark mystery. The winter of Detroit, Walker's outdated tough-guy image in a changing world, and Walker's curious blend of cynicism and hope all involve the reader in the story. Estleman's compelling and powerful writing adds to the emotional charge of the story--with enough witty passages and throw-away dialogue to break up the tension and emotional darkness in the story.

Amos Walker makes a wonderful damaged detective--and Estleman plays him straight, with no cheating, no avoiding the pain, and no faked heroism.

Fans of the Amos Walker fan will add POISON BLONDE to their must-read list. Those new to Estleman or Walker have a treat to look forward to.