FLIPPING OUT: A Lomax & Biggs Mystery
Marshall Karp
St. Martin’s Minotaur
Mystery
ISBN: 9780312378219
In THE RABBIT FACTORY, Marshall Karp’s debut mystery starring detectives (and best friends) Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, the duo investigated a series of murders at a California theme park. In their second outing, BLOODTHIRSTY, Karp turned his attention to the deadly competitive world of Hollywood wheelers and dealers. Now, in FLIPPING OUT, he sets his sights on another notorious facet of Los Angeles life --- the high-end real estate market.
Lomax and Biggs have just spent a memorable evening playing poker and shooting the breeze with a few other cops on their friend Reggie Drabyak’s boat. This perfect guy’s night out included a few beers, some good-natured put-downs, and a five-foot submarine sandwich. All that seems a distant memory the next morning, however, when Reggie’s wife, Jo, shows up dead in the couple’s garage, killed execution-style with a bullet to the back of the head.
Statistics tell the LAPD detectives that Reggie should be the number one suspect, but good sense (and good friendships) lead Lomax and Biggs in other directions. Jo was part of a business venture called the LA Flippers, a group of women who buy high-potential property, oversee the renovations, and stick it back on the market for a quick profit. It’s been a great money-making opportunity for Jo and the other women --- but could it be the reason she’s ended up dead? Or could it be that a perp with a vendetta is targeting the wives of LAPD cops? Either way, Terry’s wife Marilyn is in danger. Not only is she married to a homicide detective, she’s also one of the LA Flippers.
Meanwhile, Lomax has house troubles of his own, having been kicked out of his house while it’s supposedly being remodeled by a deadbeat contractor. He and his girlfriend can’t stand living within the same ZIP code as his nosy dad, so Lomax and Biggs are getting closer than ever as Lomax and Diana move in temporarily with Biggs and his family. Needless to say, when these two get together under the same roof, things get funnier than ever, even as they get closer to a deadly serious killer.
Fans of Biggs’s caustic one-liners and Lomax’s good-natured punning will find plenty to laugh at in FLIPPING OUT, despite the fact that the 2009 real estate market might make the book’s focus on real estate speculation seem somewhat dated already. Karp’s mystery plotting just keeps getting better. When our heroes find one key suspect, there are more than a hundred pages remaining, giving readers one big clue that there’s still at least one major twist left in store. Karp also continues to avoid writing pure parody by exhibiting a genuine fondness and tenderness for his characters, especially as they respond to the very personal nature of the crimes in FLIPPING OUT.
Fans of humorous mysteries and of the city of Los Angeles will be eager to see what new aspect of Angelino life and culture Karp will turn inside out next.
--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2009, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
