The Cactus Club Killings [Mass Market Paperback]

Nathan Walpow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1999

In a city of fast cars and movie stars, these folks are crazy about cacti. Until a killer joins the club . . .

Joe Portugal likes people. But he likes plants better. That's why the former theater actor turned small-time L.A. commercial star is a prominent member of the Culver City Cactus Club. Unfortunately, so is a killer.

The club's president is dead--a poison succulent lodged into her mouth. With a father who knows a thing or two about murder, and police breathing down his neck, Joe can recognize a jam when he sees one. But when he begins searching through a colorful cast of plant lovers, plant dealers, and even international plant smugglers, he doesn't find the answers he needs. Meanwhile, the killer has struck again, working his way through the Cactus Club with a garden variety motive--and a very green thumb--for murder. . . .

Includes The Joe Portugal Guide to Botanical Nomenclature

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

TV commercial actor and plant aficionado Joe Portugal, having discovered the mutilated body of his close friend and fellow Culver City Cactus Club member Brenda Belinski, decides to test his mettle as an amateur sleuth. Assisted by his best friend, interior designer and computer whiz Gina Vela, Portugal begins interviewing a long list of suspected killers, including Brenda's hot-tempered ex, an international plant smuggler and a lovesick wanna-be botanistAall of whom demonstrate debut novelist Walpow's penchant for eccentric characters. When another member of the CCCC turns up dead under equally bizarre circumstances, Portugal fears he may be next on the list. Soon he is fending off a well-dressed Italian, hired by his ex-con father, who's been blatantly tailing him; questions from overworked police officers; and an attack exploiting his terror of wasps. While some readers may tire of the author's gimmicky, if initially amusing, indulgence in weirdness, Walpow keeps the unlikely assassin effectively under wraps until the end.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

In a city of fast cars and movie stars, these folks are crazy about cacti. Until a killer joins the club . . .

Joe Portugal likes people. But he likes plants better. That's why the former theater actor turned small-time L.A. commercial star is a prominent member of the Culver City Cactus Club. Unfortunately, so is a killer.

The club's president is dead--a poison succulent lodged into her mouth. With a father who knows a thing or two about murder, and police breathing down his neck, Joe can recognize a jam when he sees one. But when he begins searching through a colorful cast of plant lovers, plant dealers, and even international plant smugglers, he doesn't find the answers he needs. Meanwhile, the killer has struck again, working his way through the Cactus Club with a garden variety motive--and a very green thumb--for murder. . . .

Includes The Joe Portugal Guide to Botanical Nomenclature

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (May 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440234913
• ISBN-13: 978-0440234913
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,866,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Falling in love with cacti, October 17, 2000

By 

Linda P. Anderson (Bloomsburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cactus Club Killings (Mass Market Paperback)

I do read the reader reviews on Amazon but never thought I would be writing one of my own. This book was so good I thought it needed some more help reaching book buyers, so here goes:

Joe Portugal is a 40 something actor in commercials in Los Angeles who belongs to a club devoted to cacti and succulents. He has the good fortune to be somewhat successful in his career, live in a paid-for house courtesy of his father, and have a best friend (who happens to be female). He has the bad fortune to be be house, plant and bird sitting for the club president when he discovers her dead in the shower with a broken euphorbia stuffed down her throat. Police detective Casillas seems to think Joe knows a bit too much about the victim and type of murder weapon (the euphorbia sap is quite poisonous) and follows Joe about as more murders are committed. It doesn't help Joe's case that the rest of the euphorbia shows up in his greenhouse while the detective is interviewing him the next day.

What I liked most about the book was that no one was phony- even in Los Angeles, people can be normal. Joe wasn't a caricature, neither was Gina (the female friend), nor the police. They weren't supermen- able to take a pounding and then pop up fresh as a daisy ready to run up Mt Everest. Joe's dad is a retired (due to prison time) enforcer who worries about Joe and asks a friend to "watch over" him as Joe continues to investigate the killings. The interactions between characters was lively, funny and true. The situations that develop aren't forced- the coincidences aren't too far out. Maybe it's because I've been suffering thru some really bad fiction recently, I don't know; but this book is a prime example of really good writing, fascinating real characters you get to care about (oh that phrase!) and a story that plain sucks you in until you *have* to know what happens next and who did it. And, for the record, I didn't guess who did it before it was revealed. My guess died second in the book <G>

You will learn a great deal about cacti, euphorbias and poinsettias while reading the book. A wonderful botanical guide to the plants mentioned is included in the back of the book.

Is this a cozy? hmmm, maybe. No animals die in the book- unless you include some wasps. <G>

I heartily recommend this book to anyone whoever tried to get a cactus to grow and hates wasps; and to anyone looking for a great read period!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable first entry to a new detective series., June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cactus Club Killings (Mass Market Paperback)

Nathan Walpow has a winner with his Joe Portugal series. Set in contemporary L.A., the book provides an enjoyable view a group of succulent enthusiasts and the world they inhabit. Solving one major problem with many amateur detective mysteries, Mr. Walpow succeeds in providing his hero with a believable lifestyle that allows him time to search for a murderer - he's a totally-lacking-in-ambition actor in commercials living in a house owned, but not inhabited, by his father. In fact, the father and his friends are vibrant minor characters I look forward to learning more about in future titles. Congratulations to Nathan on a promising mystery debut!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste thyme. Buy it now., August 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cactus Club Killings (Mass Market Paperback)

Not your garden-variety mystery. A succulent little book, with a down-to-earth detective, a thorny problem, good plot, and very good and believable characters. I've written a longer review for our website and am posting this one as a personal favor to Nathan; however, I am recommending this book, not as a personal favor to him but to mystery lovers everywhere, whether you like plants or not. Don't waste thyme. Buy this book now!