Abracadaver
Laura Resnick
DAW, Nov 25 2014, $7.99
ISBN: 9780756409784
In Manhattan, film
director Ted Yee shut down his project after his mother’s antics and much worse
his sister used cursed fortune cookies attempting to murder those involved in the
movie (see The Misfortunate Cookie). Two backers including Chinatown
mobster Capuzzo died while a family friend John Chen, whose family owns a
Chinese-Italian mortuary, fortunately survived; the Yee & Sons Trading
Company store did not as it was destroyed by a fire. Actress
Esther Diamond is out of work with the filming ended and her sometimes
boyfriend NYPD Detective Connor Lopez is fuming for her breaking into his
department car to destroy a fortune cookie.
However, the popular TV crime show The Dirty Thirty hires Esther to return
as prostitute Jilly C-Note; which is another reason for Connor to rage at her
as the drama depicts police corruption and worse. Strike three with Connor occurs when Esther
persuades her superego star to ride with Lopez and his partner Quinn.
Esther is stunned when her three century and a
half old sorcerer friend Max Zadok’s dog Nelli growls at Quinn. John informs Esther, Max and their associate semi-retired
Gambello family hit man Lucky Battistuzzi
that soon after a visit by Quinn, Capuzzo left his coffin and walked a few feet before collapsing. Esther and associates seek evidence that
Quinn is a mystically dirty cop.
The seventh Esther Diamond lighthearted
(except for the Yee family) urban fantasy (see
Vamparazzi and Doppelgangster) is an enjoyable paranormal investigation that
leads to strike four with Lopez and strike out forever with his mom. Though it behooves the audience to read the
previous entry The Misfortunate Cookie; it is unnecessary as Laura Resnick
deftly weaves the key points into this entertaining tale.
Harriet Klausner
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