Beggar's Choice: A Nick Polo Mystery [Hardcover]

Jerry Kennealy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

Volunteering at a local soup kitchen, private detective Nick Polo is asked by a homeless man to check up on certain generous benefactors, and when Scratchy is murdered, Polo finds suspects in a shipping magnate, an ex-CIA agent, and the Chinese Mafia.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Going down smooth and easy, the ninth Nick Polo adventure (following Vintage Polo, 1993) begins when a street person named Scratchy asks the San Francisco PI to check out three license plate numbers. Soon Scratchy is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, leaving behind a lot of cash and a near-perfect fake Rolex watch. The license plates lead Polo to a member of the city's board of supervisors, a powerful Chinatown gangster and an ex-CIA agent whom Polo knows from his days on the police force. It's pretty clear that Scratchy died because he stumbled across some kind of smuggling operation-and that Polo will tie together the three suspects into a tidy little bundle. Nonetheless Kennealy keeps a firm grip on his readers with a smart pace and a light, intelligent tone that's never cute. We're also treated to intriguing lore about investigative procedures in the electronic age, scenic and historic bits and a lively background romance.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Scratchy, a San Francisco streetperson, asks private eye Nick Polo to run a license plate for him, contending that the car's owner is an especially generous supporter of his panhandling enterprise. It's good business, after all, to know your best customers by name. Polo, who volunteers at a soup kitchen Scratchy frequents, is skeptical but complies. Before he can relay the message to his client, Scratchy is dead, the victim of a hit-and-run driver. The plate Scratchy gave Polo traced to one Henry Lee, the Chinatown godfather, prompting the sleuth to keep poking around. When an arsonist torches Polo's home and nearly kills Mrs. Damonte, Polo's tenant and surrogate grandmother, it's obvious Scratchy's death was no accident. The ninth Polo mystery is a typically solid entry in the series--well written, plausible, and featuring, in Mrs. Damonte, one of the most enjoyable supporting characters in the genre. Kennealy is a real-life private eye so the details of surveillance and information gathering lend credibility to his mazelike plots. Wes Lukowsky

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312114788
• ISBN-13: 978-0312114787
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,168,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a native San Franciscan - a rare breed nowadays; a former policeman, fireman, licensed private investigator for more than twenty years, and past Vice President of the Private Eye Writers of America.
Married to Shirley, the love of my life, also a San Francisco native, we have two sons: Frank and Steve, and a grandson, Jake.
When I was struggling to get my first mansucript finished, a friendly, established author encourged me, saying that my background should be helpful, and then he gave me this piece of advice: "Write what you know, and fake the rest."
I've been writing ever since. My first books were all first person private eye adventures, including ten in the Nick Polo series, and most of the action took place in San Francisco.
The following eight thrillers moved around from London, to Madrid, Russia, etc., but usually had a scene or two in San Francisco (write what you know).
Now I'm back in the city with a new series, stating with JIGSAW, featureing an offbeat hero, Mr. Carroll Quint, and entertainment editor for the San Francisco Bulletin.
I'm presently working on STILL SHOT, the second in the Carroll Quint series.
Thanks for reading about me here, and I hope you enjoy my novels.

Jerry Kennealy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A not-too-deep refreshing mystery, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beggar's Choice: A Nick Polo Mystery (Hardcover)

A good, light summer read. Kennealy had a few logistical errors, but overall is a pretty decent writer. The book kept me engrossed and had minimal profanity, sex, etc. It was my first Nick Polo mystery. Wish Kennealy had developed the character a little more, but it did pique my interest enough to read another.