Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff-Don Bruns

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Don Bruns
Oceanview, Dec 6 2010, $25.95
ISBN: 9781933515793

Even roommates Skip Moore and James Lessor are shocked when the Florida Department of Agriculture issues them their private investigator license though each understands the Sunshine State has been out in the sun too long. The pair opens up the Moore or Less Investigations form.

To keep from becoming starving sleuths James obtains a position as marketing director of the Moe Show traveling carnival; owner Moe Bradley must have worked for the state. Moe also orders James to investigate who is causing the accidents on the rides culminating with the death of a thirtyish woman when the safety bar on a ride failed. Skip joins James, but most of the carny employees provide Lessor cooperation as they learn first hand on the Dragon Tail and Moore insult in Freddy’s Fun House. When worker Kevin Cross is murdered in his trailer, the two new official sleuths bring in the big guns, Skip's girlfriend Emily, and P.I. Jody Stacy.

Over the top of Tallahassee, the enjoyable Moore or Lessor tale (see Stuff to Spy For) has the Dumb Dicks (they are humorous unlike the 1930s movie) legal while causing the same jocular havoc with terrific asides that skewer the state. The story line is faster than the Dragon Tail ride as the duo seems to land constantly in excrement that only a fly would appreciate. With a fabulous cliffhanging finish, Don Bruns’ fans will welcome the return of the zany pair and their more effective female buddies while wanting the next Moore and Lessor thriller immediately.

Harriet Klausner