Baby Crimes [Paperback]

Randall Hicks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2007

Adoption attorney/country club tennis pro, Toby Dillon, is hired by a wealthy and powerful couple being blackmailed over the illegal adoption of their daughter sixteen years ago. No one - not even their own daughter - knows the truth... except the birth mother. But Toby's search for her leads only to dead bodies, one of them almost his own, as he learns there may be more buried secrets than even his clients know - secrets people are killing to keep. Combining compassionate characters, wry humor, romance and a shocking triple-twist ending, Hicks has produced another great mystery, told at a thriller's pace.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adoption attorney Hicks's unremarkable second Toby Dillon mystery (after 2006's Gumshoe Award-winning The Baby Game) offers more of the same: amateur sleuthing by part-time tennis pro and part-time adoption attorney Dillon, with more emphasis on professional dilemmas than detection. This time out, Dillon is hired by Nevin and Catherine Handley, an obnoxious wealthy couple who are seeking to have the adoption of their teenage daughter Lynn, now Dillon's tennis student, belatedly legalized. What should be a fairly routine matter becomes complicated when Nevin is murdered. Hicks also mixes in a subplot concerning Dillon's burgeoning relationship with his childhood friend, famous movie star Rita MacGilroy, whose young children are threatened by a thug. The writing and characterization fail to deliver on the series' potential, and other writers have better translated their professional expertise into engaging fiction.
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From Booklist

Introduced in The Baby Game, Toby Dillon, the newly minted attorney who specializes in adoption issues (and who works from his office at the local tennis club, where he is the pro), is a likable, underdoggish kind of lead. This time Dillon is hired by a rich couple to find out who's been blackmailing them about the illegal adoption of their 16-year-old daughter. Toby's investigation quickly leads to murder. Hicks, himself an adoption attorney, is a nimble writer, and despite their serious subjects, his Dillon novels are relatively lighthearted. His second effort is more polished than its predecessor, with more sharply realized characters. Pitt, David

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Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Wordslinger Press (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979443008
• ISBN-13: 978-0979443008
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,764,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A believable situation, gone horribly wrong - well written, too., September 29, 2007

By 

PJ Coldren (Saint Helen, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Crimes (Paperback)

Lawyers don't have to like their clients. It's a good thing, because Toby Dillon isn't delighted with Catherine and Nevin Handley. Nevin made buckets of money as a dot.comer and has recently been elected to one of those quiet but very powerful political offices in local government. They have been ignoring the extortion letters but the letters are getting nastier, and seem to be focusing more on Nevin. The bone of contention? Their adoption of Lynn, their sixteen-year-old tennis wunderkind. Back when they had no money, they pulled a fast one on a small hospital, with the help of an unwed mother, so the paperwork looks right but really isn't. So can Toby make it all better before the extortionist goes public and/or Lynn finds out?

Reluctantly, Toby takes the case. Nevin is killed. Toby tracks down the man who is the person most likely to be the birth father; he is not anyone's dream father, although he has his own code and he abides by it. But is he the father? The birth mother is also eventually found, and doesn't want to make any more problems for her daughter. There are complications; aren't there always?

Toby's personal life is a little shaky, too. He is very carefully building a relationship with Rita, but this case puts her and her children in harm's way. Rita's been there, done that, and doesn't ever want to do it again; can what she and Toby have survive this?

BABY CRIMES is a marvelous second novel. Hicks builds characters we can care about, in situations that could really happen, then takes us on a wonderfully plotted ride.

5.0 out of 5 stars Once again, adoption can be murder, October 11, 2007

By 

Dog Lover (Oceanside, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby Crimes (Paperback)

Toby Dillon is back. Those of you who enjoyed "The Baby Game" will not want to miss this one. In some indefinable way I thought "Baby Crimes" was better than the first book. It has a unique plot with several twists at the end. And Toby has a bit of romance in his life this time around. Ever want a place to go and get away from it all? Try a boat plopped down in the middle of an avocado grove - Toby's place. Great character development and superb descriptions of the sleepy town of Fallbrook. Highly recommended.
Wolf Wootan, author of "Crown's law"