La Donna Detroit: A Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mystery [Paperback]

Jon A. Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2001 | Series: Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mysteries

The Newark Star-Ledger has written that Jon A. Jackson is "full of surprises ... worth reading, keeping, and rereading." In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the Mulheisen books "one of the wildest and wittiest crime series going" and La Donna Detroit "a vastly enjoyable caper." It opens as mob boss Humphrey DiEbola has tracked femme fatale Helen Sedlacek to Montana, where she fled after killing Humphrey's predecessor and running off with millions in Mafia cash. Unexpectedly, rather than take vengeance, he offers her redemption. Humphrey has also set about drastically downsizing old hands, even turning over his illegal cigar factory to Helen to make some legitimate, Cuban-quality cigars. Is he grooming her to become La Donna Detroit? When a quiet poker party in Humphrey's basement leaves all hands dead, Mulheisen smells a rat--and he's not the only one. Wry and note-perfect, La Donna Detroit brings Mulheisen up close to the mob's most intimate face and confirms Jon A. Jackson's stature as a master. Or, in the words of Library Journal: "Sex, violence, and the nitty-gritty: look for demand." "A masterpiece of diabolic design ... [Jackson] keeps edging this series onto bolder levels of ironic wit." -- Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Hard-boiled, decidedly quirky, and not a little bit zany, Jon Jackson's La Donna Detroit takes its place as the eighth, and perhaps the loopiest, entrant in Jackson's deservedly popular Detective Sergeant "Fang" Mulheisen mystery series. The Fang tale, which began with 1977's The Diehard, concerns itself with, among many others, the aforementioned Detroit detective (a peripheral character in La Donna Detroit); his somewhat brutal police mentor, Grootka; Helen Sedlacek, the daughter of a whacked crime boss who, in turn, whacked the whacker and who is the lover of the fugitive Joe Service, a hit man who has been dogging or is being dogged by Fang from day one; and Humphrey DiEbola, the current crime boss, who ascended the throne thanks to Helen's murderous activities and who, despite that fact that she's helped herself to eight million of his hardly earned dollars, has taken Helen under his wing and seems for all intents and purposes to be grooming her as his heir. In fact, DiEbola would like her to assume control of his Detroit-based, ersatz Cuban cigar concern, even if they had to sell at a loss for a while:

No, she didn't want that. She was too good a businesswoman. She believed that with Berta's help she could get her girls to turn out a quality cigar. They could go two ways: her girls would slap labels on them, any label she wanted, and they could be peddled as "illegal" Cuban "seconds"; and they'd also work on a public, over-the-counter cigar, the LaDonna series. Five bucks. Basically the same cigar, quality tobacco from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and so on; they'd be good cigars; they might lose money for a while, but they would slowly build a clientele.

As Helen becomes further ensconced in DiEbola's web-like netherworld, renegade federal agents surface, Joe resurfaces, and, after a deadly accident that seems far too coincidental and beneficial, Fang Mulheisen arrives--late to dinner but in plenty of time for dessert. Enter the series with La Donna Detroit and leap around, or pick them up in order. Either way you'll read them all, and some you'll read more than once. --Michael Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Jackson continues to crank out one of the wildest and wittiest crime series going. This time out his hero, Detroit cop "Fang" Mulheisen, doesn't get a whole bunch to do till the last 50 pages. Before that we follow the Machiavellian moves of mobster Humphrey DiEbola (Jackson has a droll way with his character names). Humphrey's dark deeds stretch back to his childhood, and now he's trying to plan his retirement. For a made guy, retiring can sometimes require whacking most of his rivals and faking his own death. Humphrey gets help here from Helen Sedlacek, an old Mulheisen nemesis, who vanished with mob money in a previous adventure. Now she's back in action, with Humphrey unexpectedly friendly toward her, along with her hired-killer lover, Joe Service, who's currently in the shadowy employ of a government agency after recovering from a bullet-inspired coma. Of course, Joe's job still requires killing. Once Mulheisen surfaces, he winds up this vastly enjoyable caper with his usual high style. "La Donna" is the name of the quality cigar brand Helen is sellingDCuban tobacco rolled in the Motor City at a price even Mulheisen can appreciate. That Jackson spends a lot of narrative time backtracking is good news for new readers, if a shade irksome for older fans. With any luck he'll start producing mysteries more often. That would be great news for everyone. Agent, Bob Datilla. Phoenix Literary Agency. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802138225
• ISBN-13: 978-0802138224
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,091,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep Cover, June 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: LA Donna Detroit: A Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mystery (Hardcover)

La Donna Detroit had me at "hello". The newest in the Mulheisen series goes deep - deep into the long-buried fears of Humphrey "The Fat Man" DiEbola, deep into the secret history of Detroit, and deep into the heart of Mulheisen himself. Do yourself a favor and check out LA DONNA - the plot twists, character development, and Jackson style will make you want to reread the entire series. JON A. JACKSON IS THE BEST-KEPT SECRET OF AMERICAN MYSTERY WRITING.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not as good..., September 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: LA Donna Detroit: A Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mystery (Hardcover)

...as the previous novel, DEADMAN, mostly because I would have like more Mulheisen in the plot. But still an entertaining read for anyone that likes intelligent, different, quirky mysteries.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointing, December 5, 2000

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: LA Donna Detroit: A Detective Sergeant Mulheisen Mystery (Hardcover)

My first read of a Jon Jackson novel, and after reading the reviews on here I had higher hopes than the book delivered. At times it was very good, well paced, clear characters and action and then it would wander of on some side road for a period of time. Given that the Detroit detective's name is featured on the cover, I kept wondering when he would appear. Well, not for quite a while and then the most interesting aspect of his life is his living arrangement with his ladlady. I believe this needed more re-writing than it got.