Cold Slice: A Working Man's Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

L.T Fawkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

I want to tell you a story. It's about friends, hard work, good love, bad love, and murder. My name's Terry Saltz.

It started like this. I got drunk in a bar one night, trashed the place, and went to jail. As a result I lost my job, my wife, my truck, and my mobile home. Losing that truck was the part that hurtthe most.

When I got out, I figured I had to start again at the beginning. I walked into Carlo's Pizza and got hired as a night delivery driver. Relieved to be back on someone's payroll, I was making new friends and having more fun than expected...until one of the other drivers turned up dead. The cops got nowhere fast, so me and my new friends decided it was time to go looking for the murderer.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Signet (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451208358
• ISBN-13: 978-0451208354
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,023,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi,

Thanks for visiting my author page. I like funny stuff. If you like funny stuff too, we're probably gonna get along just fine.

Now available on Kindle:

COLD SLICE - Book one of my Terry Saltz Mysteries series

I know. The cover makes it look like it's a cookbook. It's not. It's a
mystery starring Terry Saltz -

"Here's me: Terry Saltz. Six-five. Twenty-six. Smart-a**. Long hair tied back with a piece of leather shoelace. Black mustache that tends to turn down at the ends. Plaid flannel shirts, and the elbows on most of them are threadbare or blown out altogether. Old faded jeans, and I didn't buy 'em that way. Work boots.
I'm a carpenter. I build stuff. I like the smell of sawdust. Put me up in the air walking a beam with a hammer in my hand and my tool belt riding low, thumpin' and bumpin', and I'm a happy man."

Also available on Kindle: the first three books of The Fillmore Chronicles series:

Fillmore to the Rescue
Fillmore Saves the Day
Fillmore Rides Again

The Fillmore Chronicles is a smart, funny series starring Mellie Shrop, a clueless young semi-celebrity heiress, and her unflappable personal assistant, Fillmore.
Early comments: Very funny, Love the characters.

Are you on Facebook? "Friend" me for updates and miscellaneous info - L. T. Fawkes!

I admire fine writing, which is why I'm collecting it on my website, L. T. Fawkes Reading Room, at http://ltfawkes.com/. The Reading Room is a non-profit (no ads, no pop-ups) collection of fiction ranging from short-short stories to full-length novels and features. It's not only my own stuff, but the work of writers I admire from all around the world.

L.T.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An upbeat mystery, June 12, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Slice: A Working Man's Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

After going to jail for doing tremendous damage during a bar fight Terry Saltz loses his wife, his job, his truck, and his motor home. The only person to stick by him was his friend Danny who came to visit him in prison and offered to share his apartment with him after he got out. A couple of weeks after he is on the streets, he takes a job as a driver for Carlo's, a very popular pizza place.

He's right up front with everyone, telling them he's an ex-con but the manager is more interested if he can start tonight because one of their drivers was in an accident. Terry makes friends with Bump and Gruf who take him under their wing, find him and Danny a new place to live and get him his truck back. When one of the least liked drivers is killed, Terry and company decide to do a little investigating on their own because nobody messes with the people who work at Carlo's.

Anyone who doubts that men can bond with one another and be there in good times and bad must read COLD SLICE, an upbeat mystery that proves males have emotions and are not afraid to show them to those they trust. Terry and his friends are all blue-collar workers and their lack of pretentiousness will be enjoyed by a whole different segment of mystery readers. L.T. Fawkes has written a very exciting mystery starring a protagonist whom will appeal to men and women.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice surprise, June 19, 2003

By 

Chris (Griffith, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Slice: A Working Man's Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

What a great surprise this book is. I am generally nervous about reading new authors, but L.T. Fawkes has really started to make a name for himself. The characters are vivid and liekable with personalities with whcih everyone can associate. I couldn't put it down. Easy and fun to read. I can't wait for the next one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terry's starting over and finds murder, August 25, 2004

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Slice: A Working Man's Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Terry Saltz has just gotten out of jail. He'd gotten wasted and trashed a bar. While in jail, his wife divorced him and took his truck and mobile home. Losing his truck hurt the most!

So he's having to start over. His friend Danny lets him come live with him in an attic apartment. He gets a job as a pizza night delivery driver at Carlo's pizza place. He hooks up with Gruf, Bump and others there.

Terry also starts building a deck for Bump. He was a carpenter before jail. His new carpentry side business really takes off and soon Gruf is helping him.

When The Witness (Ed Hanus), another driver, gets killed out back, Terry and the guys decide they'd better help the police look into it. Especially when Seargant Alan Bushnell brings Terry in for questioning.

The guys decide they need to get to know The Witness' background, friends and family better. No one at Carlo's really hung out with him. And they need to do all this without Alan finding out and without putting themselves in danger - there is a killer out there!

When I first started reading this, I wasn't sure if I'd like it. By the end, I loved it! Terry is such a great character and so different than any other protagonist. I think the author has done a great job of interspersing enough cuss words, etc., to make these guys believable, but yet not so many it can't be classified a cozy.

Carlo's is the kind of place everyone would like to work. They have a lot of fun, but they get their work done. The camaraderie these guys develop is terrific. Breakfast at Brewster's is another great touch! Their curiosity to help solve the crime is natural.

I highly recommend this book (the first in the series) be read before the others. It's terrific, you won't be able to put it down!