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Death Will Help You Leave Him: A Mystery

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Recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler is taking things one day at a time with the help of his friends Jimmy and Barbara, while trying to place limits with his ex-wife who has bouts of depression and sporadically threatens suicide. Barbara, an addictions counselor, talks Bruce and Jimmy into doing some independent sleuthing when Luz Colon, her Al-Anon sponsee, is suspected of murdering her abusive boyfriend, Frankie Iacone. Frankie, a former drug dealer married to someone else, had just gotten out of rehab hours before being found dead in Luz's apartment. Barbara hopes Bruce and Jimmy may be able to learn more about Frankie and the people he knew through their AA connections. Along with Luz, the three team up and separate and team up again as they try to unearth the murderer. Eventually they step on the wrong toes, which places Bruce's and Luz's lives in danger.

This, the second in the mystery series featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler, is an intriguing whodunit set against the gritty backdrop of New York City and its diverse cultures. As with the first, much emphasis is placed on the recovery process and Zelvin relays Kohler's, as well as others', constant battle with addiction in a realistic, empathetic manner. The plot moves at a quick pace with enough suspects to keep the reader guessing.

In New York, drug dealer Frankie Iacone is found dead in the apartment of his girlfriend Luz. The police suspects Luz stabbed her boyfriend who just came out of rehab as they insist her motive is learning he had a wife and children living in Brooklyn.

Luz's counselor Barbara, her boyfriend Jimmy and his best buddy recovering alcoholic Jimmy investigate the homicide. Bruce also struggles with his dealings with his former wife bipolar addict Laura who he still sleeps with and who tempts his addiction. Their unprofessional investigation leads the trio into trouble with the police and with associates of Frankie as they attend his funeral where they meet his warm Italian family including his pregnant wife.

In his second appearance (see DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER) Bruce and his amateur sleuth cohorts make for an intriguing urban mystery as they fumble their way through the city's most downtrodden residents trying to find the killer. The story line is a very dark look at the mean streets of New York from the view of the undesirable forgotten. For instance Bruce's ex spouse is a fascinating character as she uses the threat of suicide as a defense mechanism to get Bruce to come over and then either kicks him to curb or has sex with him. His confusion as to how to escape the relationship enhances a psychological look at New York's emotionally desperately needy as the people overwhelms the whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Death Will Help You Leave Him is a story of addictions. Each characters battles his or her own addiction, be it to alcohol, drugs, love, sex, being needed, or, helpful for this novel, an addiction to investigating. Bruce Kohler is nine months sober and working as a temporary paralegal when his best friend's girlfriend Barbara's addiction to helping others has the three on a mission of mercy to aid her Al-Anon sponsee Luz, who apparently just discovered the body of her boyfriend in her apartment. The beautiful women had been unable to refrain from loving or leaving the abusive victim, and the fact that Luz has been a little recalcitrant with the truth to everyone has her as the number one suspect on the police suspect list. With considerable pressure from Barbara, Bruce finds himself a little too eager to investigate the dead man's life, which included drug dealing, several stints in rehab, a bakery-owning family, and most problematic for Luz, a wife. While the addictive high of detecting satisfies some of Bruce's need for excitement, the reappearance of his bi-polar ex-wife dangerously creates another.

The most compelling aspects of this second novel by Elizabeth Zelvin, a psychotherapist with a strong addiction treatment background, are the addictions of the characters and the various ways they have managed to cope with them. Barbara is impulsive and reckless with her need to constantly help and "fix" other's problems, Bruce daily battles the desire for alcohol and an attraction to his fragile and reckless ex-wife, and Luz has her own inability to acknowledge the destructiveness of her past relationship. Bruce's own personal tragedies interweave with his amateurish investigation, and both prove to be realistic and clearly depicted. Despite the somber themes of this mystery, the wry humor of the heroes lighten the tone and make this a very enjoyable read. The characters and their struggles also aid in creating an extremely unique mystery that sucks the reader in and refuses to let go.

Having first appeared in "Death Will Get You Sober" Bruce Kohhler and the gang return in the sequel "Death Will Help You Leave Him." A title that certainly fits the book very well despite the fact that this novel never comes close to the first book in terms of mystery, humor, or engaging story.

As the book opens, recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohhler is dragged out in the rain in New York in the middle of the night by his friend Barbara. Barbara works as an addictions counselor and is sponsoring a woman, Luz, in Al-Anon. Luz was being abused by her drug dealing boyfriend, Frankie, who was also a married man with kids. Luz came home to find him dead on her kitchen floor. At some point after finding the body, Luz made a semi hysterical call to Barbara telling her about the death and that the cops think she did it. So, Barbara is riding to the rescue and dragging her boyfriend, Jimmy, and Bruce along with her.

Frankie had a history of mentally abusing Luz and most likely physically abusing her which would clearly give Luz motive. Beyond the fact that the guy had the bad grace to die in Luz's apartment, it also appears that Frankie knew his killer and let him or her in. Then there is the whole adultery angle that she was having sex with a man she knew to be married and wanted him to leave his wife. These points and numerous others make Luz the obvious suspect.

Before long, with the police focused on Luz, Barbara and Jimmy are wading to help investigate and dragging Bruce right along with them. As if Bruce doesn't have enough to deal with concerning his own sobriety. His ex-wife, Laura, is in heavy contact with Bruce, seems to be deep in her own abusive relationship with another man in her life, and apparently off her meds for her bipolar disorder while making various plays for Bruce's attention.

The second book in a series is frequently not as good as the first series and that certainly is the case here. While the first novel stayed away, for the most part, from jargon this one does not. It also moves far slower than the first novel. However, the biggest problem is the twin storylines of abuse.

Abuse and issues relating to abuse do not lend themselves to humor or enjoyable reading in a novel that ultimately concludes in a depressing and not at all unexpected ending. "Death Will Help You Leave Him" is a mystery that isn't much of a mystery and therefore relies on the internal conflict Bruce has dealing with his ex-wife. This extremely slow moving sequel illustrates all too well the dangers with destructive relationships. It also clearly illustrates the long history of the experience the author has as a New York City Psychotherapist.


Book provided directly by the author in exchange for my objective review.



Kevin R. Tipple © 2010

DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM, the second in Zelvin's series, is even better than her first, in itself a considerable achievement. Bruce grows as a character in this book. His wiseguy humor is still there, but we're given a glimpse of the pathos that lies beneath his lively patter. A wonderful story where the pages flew through my fingers but deeper meanings lingered after I finished. The characters are all interesting, complex beings, all people you want to spend time with, even the "bad guys" have their share of pathos, too. Wonderful read. I can't recommend it enough!

Zelvin's second novel makes me wish I'd read the first, "Death Will Get You Sober."
Bruce Kohler, a recovering alcoholic, and his friend Jimmy, a computer whiz with 15 years of sobriety, and Jimmy's girlfriend Barbara, an addictions counselor, are faced with murder, alcoholism, co-dependency, drug dealing and a slew of other issues in this dynamic and thoroughly enjoyable novel.
Set in New York City, the story focuses at first on Luz, suspected of killing her married, drug-dealing boyfriend. Barbara, who is Luz's sponsor in Al-Anon, rushes to her defense.
These three unlikely investigators decide the best way to protect Luz is to find a better suspect. To that end, they attend the funeral in Brooklyn, where the intermingled Italian families present a classic picture of one segment of the Big Apple melting pot.
In fact, Zelvin nails both New York and the recovery community.
That wouldn't matter unless the story worked as well, and it does. Bruce, with his shaky sobriety and his continuing addiction to his bipolar ex-wife, is a believable character who is easy to root for.
My only quibble is that there are too many car accidents: twice Bruce rescues women who are struck, and once he doesn't. Surely there are other ways to demonstrate danger.

Addiction is the theme of this series. To begin with, the three protagonists are recovering from alcoholism or drug abuse. But more important, they are addicted to detecting. The author, a therapist specializing in addiction and co-dependency, uses her professional background abundantly in this series, emphasizing AA principles and the trials of a recovering person.

The plot of this, the second installment featuring recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends: Jimmy, a computer genius, and Barbara, an addictions counselor and world-class codependent, begins with a telephone call from Barbara's sponsor Luz, who becomes suspect #1 when her abusive boyfriend, Frankie, just out of rehab and known to be a drug dealer, is found stabbed to death in his Spanish Harlem apartment. Frankie had a pregnant wife with two kids back in Brooklyn, giving the author the chance to use her knowledge of that borough and other parts of New York City as background.

The detailed insights into the life of a recovering addict are penetrating, and the look into the interchanges between members of a Brooklyn Italian family are full of understanding. The author writes with compassion and wisdom about the pressures on persons in recovery mode, and the book is recommended.