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Dirty Pool: A Bubba Mabry Mystery
 
 
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Dirty Pool: A Bubba Mabry Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Steve Brewer (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Worldwide Library Mysteries July 1, 2003
Usually, Albuquerque P.I. Bubba Mabry has trouble finding enough cases to keep his agency afloat. Hell, Bubba has trouble with just about everything. Then he's hired for a case that seems tailor-made for him: quick and easy. The teenage son of a Texas millionaire is missing. The millionaire's had no luck with the high-tech, out-of-towner, loudmouth P.I. he already hired, and wants Bubba to help out. Of course, the loudmouth is on William J. Pool, who just happens to be Bubba's nemesis in the P.I. business. He's made a fool of Bubba more than once. Not an ideal situation, but perhaps a chance for Bubba to regain some face, and earn some much-needed cash as well.

So, it sounds like easy money. But then, just at the worst possible time, Bubba's long-missing father turns up, clearly suffering from Alzheimer's. The last thing Bubba needs is a distraction from such an important case, especially a distraction that is so troubling. Trying to sort out their relationship and confront his conflicted feelings for a man who deserted him as a child promises to be practically as difficult for Bubba as locating the troubled teenager.

With Dirty Pool, Steve Brewer has written his strongest book yet, combining his trademark sharp, sarcastic writing and larger-than-life characters with a more powerful and hard-hitting story than ever before.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

PI Bubba Mabry (Shaky Ground, etc.) makes his fifth appearance in this funny and occasionally touching mystery. Texas millionaire Dick Johnson hires Bubba to deliver the ransom to release his kidnapped son, Richie. Bubba's nemesis, loud-mouthed PI William J. Pool, has been trying to find the errant scion but has had little luck. When it's discovered that Richie engineered his own kidnapping, Johnson sets the two private detectives off on a race: whoever finds Richie first can keep the ransom, a cool $200,000. Bubba, spurred by his wife, accepts the challenge, even though Richie has joined a skinhead gang that has already sent one of Pool's operatives to the hospital. Complicating matters is the sudden reappearance of Bubba's father, Dub, who abandoned Bubba when the boy was nine. Dub seems to have some serious mental problems, and Bubba tries to do the right thing, watching over him while running into and out of trouble on his current case. Then Richie is murdered. Though his writing can be flat, Brewer offers some clever twists and brings the threads of the story together in a surprising, and oddly poignant, fashion.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Albuquerque p.i. Bubba Mabry has a number-one enemy. And a number-one competitor. And they're both big-mouthed William J. Pool, who thinks a scruple is Russian folding money, and who has a long history of out-slicking Bubba. So Bubba's leery when he's asked by Pool to share an assignment. Seems that Texas multimillionaire Dick Johnson has misplaced his flaky son, who may or may not have been kidnaped. There's a ransom note demanding $200,000, but Johnson's suspicious. He views the chances as good that Richie, the flaky son, wrote the note himself. The job Pool wants to drop on Bubba is delivering the ransom, a gig Bubba doesn't much care for, but a thousand bucksthe proffered feeis enough to blunt his misgivings. He follows instructions, and the money's picked up . . . by spurious victim Richie, who at once disappears again. Now his dad decides it's a good idea to pit the detectives against each other, dangling the ransom money as incentive. Whoever finds Richie first gets to keep it. Dirty Pool and bumbling Bubba face off, but before the Richie-hunt is over, Pool tricks Bubba yet again, this time in a particularly painful way. To accomplish dastardly ends of his own, he hooks But up with DubMabry, that is (the father Bubba hasn't spoken to in 28 years). Throw in a couple of beatings, and a near auto-da-F, and Bubba endures dark times before finally muddling through. So-so plotting, and a protagonist who's not very smart, nor very brave, and who needs to be funnier to compensate. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Worldwide Library (July 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0373264623
  • ISBN-13: 978-0373264629
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

STEVE BREWER is the author of more than 20 books about crooks, including the recent crime novels LOST VEGAS, THE BIG WINK and CALABAMA.

His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna. BOOST currently is under film/TV option.

Brewer's short fiction appeared in the anthologies DAMN NEAR DEAD, THE LAST NOEL, CRIMES BY MOONLIGHT and WEST COAST CRIME WAVE, and he's published articles in Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.

A former journalist and syndicated humor columnist, Brewer now works as a writing coach, book doctor and University of New Mexico lecturer. A frequent speaker at mystery conventions, he was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in 2011.

Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.

More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com. Write him at abqbrewer@gmail.com.

 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
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3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent mystery wrapped up in a great sense of humor., October 23, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Dirty Pool (Hardcover)
Bubba Mabry should have been a member of the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight. He has a penchant for getting into trouble, yet somehow always gets his guy. Steve Brewer has a knack for developing a fine mystery, all the while exposing his protagonist's weaknesses and fumblings. And he does it with a refreshing sense of humor. Brewer can also turn a phrase so that the reader remembers excerpts from his books long after finishing them. Dirty Pool is the fifth in the Bubba Mabry series and makes the reader call for more, more, more. This latest book brings new dimension to Bubba with the addition of the investigator's long-lost father, Dub, and Bubba's continuing relationship with Felicia, the hard-edged newspaperwoman. As I read Dirty Pool, I began to think that Bubba was growing---in sophistication, in compassion, in competence. But, in the end, it was actually the people around him who grew. Bubba is an incorrigible plodder, who somehow gets the job done. And does so in an endearing way. Unlike a lot of writers whose characters and plots become diluted with subsequent editions, Brewer seems to get better as he goes along. And so do his characters. If you like a good mystery and want a good laugh along the way, pick up Dirty Pool---or any other of Brewer's works, for that matter.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the characters, June 28, 2011
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This review is from: Dirty Pool: A Bubba Mabry Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
This is my first Bubba Maybre mystery. It was a fun book! I laughed out loud at Bubba's dad, a really colorful character. Looking forward to the next "Bubba Book." If you are looking for a well written book with very likable characters and enjoy a different kind of detective with a wry, funny outlook get this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced entertainment., November 10, 2005
This review is from: Dirty Pool (Hardcover)
Dirty Pool has it all. It is funny, suspenseful, with great characters and a believable plot. Bubba, a private investigator, must search for the son of a millionaire. The rebel kid has turned into a skinhead and hangs around people so scary you may think about putting down the novel because you want to forget them. During his journey into the dark world of the skinheads, Bubba must come to terms with his father, who abandoned him when he was only nine, and is now driving him crazy with his irrational behavior.

Dirty Pool is a very entertaining novel. Steve Brewer accomplished a lot with a novel that has less than 300 pages. Evidence that you don't need to bore readers with long descriptions and lots of information to create a classic.
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