Customer Reviews

The Lion's Share (Jimmy Flannery Mysteries)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Lion's Share begins with the death of Jimmy Flannery's long-time political sponsor (his "Chinaman"), Chips Devlin. Jimmy is in for a surprise when he learns that he has inherited the Devlin house just so long as he lives in it. Soon his wife, Mary, is sorting out all of Devlin's belongings and picking out wallpaper. Friends begin pitching in to do the hard work of restoring the house.

Jimmy finds himself without a political mentor for the first time in his adult life. He's surprised to find ex-congressman Leo Lundatos at the wake for Chips. Lundatos soon issues an invitation for Jimmy to join the team as his right-hand man while Lundatos tries to make a fresh start by running for local office as alderman from the 11th ward. This seems like the big time to Jimmy, but there are a few things bothering him. First, Lundatos lost his job in Congress for being caught at minor thievery. Jimmy is all for doing the right thing. Second, can the two men actually work together? Third, can Lundatos be trusted?

The offer quickly gets around, and Jimmy receives a surprise telephone call telling him to come to a building if he wants to know whether or not to take the offer. When he gets there, the caller disappears without being seen . . . but Jimmy does find a beautiful woman dead in a bath tub. This is a woman Jimmy had met at the wake who chose to call herself Fay Wray, and earned her living by pleasing men.

Jimmy calls the police, and stays involved to be sure that the murder doesn't get swept under the rug. In the process of finding out who killed Fay Wray, he learns a lot about Lundatos and his wife. By the time the story's over, it's an easy decision for Jimmy to make.

The theme of this story is that you don't know how sound your principles are until you've been tempted to abandon them. Naturally, powerful politicians receive all kinds of favors and may come to expect special treatment. As Jimmy moves up the political ladder, he will find himself mixing with those who have been compromised by that access.

I like this series very much, but I did not enjoy the ugly material in here about paid sex. For that reason, this is one of my least favorite Jimmy Flannery books.

For those who remember who Dan Rostenkowski was, the Lundatos character seems loosely based on the former House Speaker's Congressional career.

After you finish this story, think about what principles you believe in that you would not usually compromise. What temptations might you have to overcome in order to hold to those principles? How can you prepare to resist the most challenging temptations?