Publication Date: July 20, 2010 | Series: Stanley Hastings Mysteries
The latest in the beloved Stanley Hastings series—the unlikeliest private eye in New York City, who doesn’t even carry a gun.
Poor Stanley Hastings. After getting hired by a hitman and nearly getting shot, the put-upon PI needed some fun, so when a gorgeous damsel in distress walked through his office door she seemed just what the doctor ordered.
Wrong again.
The fair maiden turned out to be a married mom who wanted Stanley to find out why her teenage daughter was skipping school. Playing truant officer wasn't exactly Stanley's idea of fun, but at least it should be easy.
Fat chance.
Stanley being Stanley, nothing goes right, nothing is as it seems, bodies start to pile up, and faster than you can say 'fall guy', guess who's left holding the bag?
Before the case is resolved, Stanley will be nostalgic for the good old days, when all he had to worry about was a hitman.
New York private investigator Stanley Hastings needs a change of pace. The only jobs his boss, personal-injury lawyer Richard Rosenberg, gives him are routine trip-and-fall cases. So when a beautiful woman comes to Stanley and asks him to rescue her teenage daughter, Stanley’s knight-errant genes kick into overdrive. Mom thinks daughter may be turning tricks. OMG! Stanley first tries the “scared straight” technique he remembers from an old movie. It doesn’t go well. Then he slips the kid a Mickey to spirit her away from the man who seems to be her lover-client—and he gets hauled in on a kidnapping charge. Then a congressman involved with the girl ends up dead, and Stanley is tapped for the murder. No good deed goes unpunished in Stanley’s world. The latest Hastings mystery is typical of the series: charming, funny, and cleverly plotted. Stanley is the living embodiment of the old Rodney Dangerfield punch line: “I don’t get no respect.” His boss thinks he’s a goof, his wife disregards him, and his NYPD connection addresses him as “moron.” Readers just root for him. Engaging reading. --Wes Lukowsky
Parnell Hall's music video, KING OF KINDLE, is on his Amazon author page! Cameos by Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, and dozens of other mystery writers. See how many you can spot. (Scroll down for video)
Parnell is the author of the Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle mysteries, set in the fictitious town of Bakerhaven, Connecticut. Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, has a nationally syndicated crossword puzzle column, but couldn't construct a puzzle if her life depended on it. Her niece Sherry Carter writes the column for her. The much married Miss Felton is much happier solving crime. She made her debut in 1999 in A CLUE FOR THE PUZZLE LADY, and has since romped through LAST PUZZLE & TESTAMENT, PUZZLED TO DEATH, and A PUZZLE IN A PEAR TREE, WITH THIS PUZZLE, I THEE KILL, AND A PUZZLE TO DIE ON, and STALKING THE PUZZLE LADY. Cora is herself a suspect in YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN PUZZLED.
Though poor at words, Cora proves most adept at numbers in THE SUDOKU PUZZLE MURDERS. New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz constructed the sudoku puzzles that help solve the mystery. Sudoku puzzles also play a part in DEAD MAN'S PUZZLE, and THE PUZZLE LADY VS. THE SUDOKU LADY. Cora tackles a new number puzzle in THE KENKEN KILLINGS.
As research for the Puzzle Lady books, Parnell competed in the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut, where out of a field of 254 contestants he finished 250th, just ahead of the four people who failed to turn in a paper. Parnell composed the puzzles for his earlier books. He now has them created by New York Times constructor Manny Nosowsky, and edited by National Tournament winner Ellen Ripstein.
Parnell also writes the Stanley Hastings mystery novels, and the Steve Winslow courtroom dramas. His first novel, DETECTIVE, was nominated for an Edgar award by the Mystery Writers of America, and a Shamus award by the Private Eye Writers of America. His tenth Stanley Hastings novel, MOVIE, was nominated for a Shamus award for Best Private Eye Novel of 1995, and for a Lefty for the funniest mystery novel of 1995. Recently, Stanley and his wife Alice vacationed at a New England bed-and-breakfast in COZY, a takeoff on that subset of the genre; the book is full of recipes and the cat solves the crime. Stanley returned to the mean streets of Manhattan in MANSLAUGHTER, HITMAN, and CAPER. He has his first paranormal encounter in the short story DEATH OF A VAMPIRE, in the Charlaine Harris anthology, CRMIES BY MOONLIGHT.
Parnell worked for two years as a private detective in New York City. His experiences form the basis for his Stanley Hastings series. He has no courtroom experience, however, and owes his Steve Winslow series to a childhood spent reading Erle Stanley Gardner.
Parnell is an actor, who has done summer stock and regional theater, and appeared in a number of movies, including Arnold Schwarzenegger's first movie, Hercules in New York (in which he appeared clad in a leopard skin) and A New Leaf with Elaine May and Walter Matthau.
Parnell is a member of the Writers Guild of America East with several screenplays to his credit, including the underground horror movie C.H.U.D., which has been satirized on Saturday Night Live, the Simpsons, Pushing Daisies, The Dailey Show, and The Colbert Report.
Parnell's career as a professional songwriter began at the age of sixteen, when Pete Seeger sang The Literacy Test Song on the Folkways album, Gazette, Volume 2. Parnell has performed his songs at several mystery conventions, including the Edgar Awards, Magna Cum Murder, Malice Domestic, and the Bouchercon. This year he is performing The Ballad of Alferd Packard, a song celebrating Denver's most famous cannibal, at the Left Coast Crime banquet.
Parnell Hall is a former President of the Private Eye Writers of America, and a member of Sisters in Crime. He lives in New York City.
This review is from: Caper: A Stanley Hastings Mystery (Stanley Hastings Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Nobody he knows ever said Stanley Hastings was the brightest PI on the street. In fact, they usually call him "moron." Even he acknowledges his failures at acting and other endeavors, and his main source of income as an "investigator" for a negligence attorney requires little intelligence. In fact he is the only one filling the position who doesn't leave after a very short time.
So it is no surprise (in this or any other novel in the series) that Stanley is taken in and bumbles along some convoluted path until whatever trouble he finds himself in is resolved. In "Caper," he is retained to find out why the client's daughter is skipping school. Well, of course, everything is not as it seems, and at one point a murder complicates Stanley's path to solving the "case." He even becomes a suspect.
Strangely enough, as one reads, Stanley emerges less as a fool and, perhaps, more as an idiot savant. There are major portions of the novel that are very funny. And more important, in today's often dreary world, it is fast reading and an interesting tale, and is recommended.
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This review is from: Caper: A Stanley Hastings Mystery (Stanley Hastings Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The centerpiece of a book like this is the witty banter. It's a light read that makes you smile and after you're done, it's hard to recall what it was even about. Which is okay.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work out the way.
Stanley Hastings is his own worst enemy. He runs his mouth when he shouldn't and sometimes makes really poor judgment calls, but in the end he solves the mystery.
The problem is, there's not even story hear for a full book, so the author resorts to scenes that are essentially exercises in stalling. For example, Stanley repeatedly meets with his lawyer, who refuses to get involved and peppers him with put-downs. Same with his policemen friend. It gets old very quickly and does little to nothing to further the story. It's like you're reading the same scene over and over again.
The character and the series have potential, but it's not realized in this book.
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