Customer Reviews

Hooked Up (Stock Car Racing Mysteries)

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In this outstanding novel by Joyce and Jim Lavene we are at the speedway again with Ruby and Glad. Of course we are not going to be able to just sit and enjoy the races, no, not with our two, murder finds you, around. I love it.

Ruby picks up a hitchhiker who ends up dead the next day under a bridge, or is it really him? After all, he has a twin brother and there is a rumor that ten million dollars in cash is missing, and perhaps the dead man, or his brother, who is a powerful casino man, may just know where it is. Do you see the plot thickening? Great pull in, and to Glad's dismay it definitely pulled them into the thick of it all.

To add a little spice to the read, our authors brought in an old acquaintance of Glad's, who just happened to be in charge of the case. Unfortunately for Glad she felt he had left her waiting so many years ago, and their relationship was left unfinished. Not a good thing to have the main investigator holding a grudge against you, now is it?

I really enjoyed this read. The main characters are totally likeable and real. The way Ruby and Glad are so opposite, yet so in tune somehow makes you grin and cringe at the same time. The author's bring just the right amount of mix between the love they have for each other, yet showing the distinct personalities of each especially as they become involved in a murder case. Somehow it works and it works well.

I have to say this story had a lot of twists and turns in it. The unexpected popping up around every corner, adding more questions than answers. I was totally confused and did not have a hint who the guilty party was until it was revealed. There was mystery, suspense, action, romance, racing, and even some animal interaction in this read. Malibu, the cat, definitely brought a few giggles along the way. What more could you ask for?

Hooked Up is a book you will cuddle up and gobble up. A really top-notch mystery that will leave you wanting more.

Recommended.

These two authors are probably really nice folks, but if you're a racing fan expecting to get a detailed, thoughtful plot along with a realistic look at a NASCAR racing environment, then I would respectfully suggest that you might be better off looking elsewhere. You will likely find yourself frustrated at both the unbelieveable circumstances, and, in my opinion, the unrealistic environments. If you're not a racing fan and looking for a "light" read to breeze through, then this may be your book.

This review applies to all books read in the series, regretfully. Thanks.

Glad is a retired police officer who with his young wife Ruby travels to NASCAR races in their RV. They are going to the Dover International Speedway to root for Ruby's brother Bobby driving in his first year on the circuit. Glad becomes a tad upset to find a stranger in his PJs in his bed. Ruby explains that Bill was badly bruised and all alone with his cat Malibu. Glad insists Ruby get the man out of the RV; she goes in to find him missing. At the speedway someone dives off the bridge wearing Bill's pajamas.

Ruby insists it cannot be Bill because his face was all cut up. A man talking with the police turns out to be Bill's identical twin only he has scratches all over his face. He introduces himself to Glad and Ruby as Phil Paxton, the owner of the casino and hotel next to the speedway. Ruby believes Phil is actually Bill who killed his brother to take over his more successful identity. Ruby insists on finding out the truth; she learns from a British PI that a decade ago a Brinks car was to deliver ten million dollars to the casinos but never arrived. Rumors spread that the Paxton brothers pulled off the caper that has never been solved. Soon afterward, one Paxton is found dead, and two others missing with a demand for ten million by kidnappers for the youngest sibling.

Readers will thoroughly enjoy this enthralling thriller filled with mixed up identities, motives that prove phony, and crimes that are not what they first seem. Glad is henpecked as he just wants to watch the race and not get involved in a whodunit, but Ruby's nagging adds humor and humanization to the story line as he capitulates to her constant demands. Although the Paxton sibling spin beyond the ten years old heist and the twin identities seems overkill, readers will be hooked up and down with the latest J&J Lavene mystery.

Harriet Klausner