From Publishers Weekly
Veteran anthologist, editor and author Randisi (the Nick Delvecchio series, etc.) teams up with Matthews, a poet and playwright, to create the appealing sleuthing duo of Gil and Claire Hunt. The St. Louis couple, each married for the second time, have found marital bliss and professional contentment, Gil as a bookstore owner and Claire as the host of a local home-shopping TV show. When a serial killer starts murdering women in the St. Louis area, leaving the victims "watching" a videotape of Claire's show, the police naturally want to question Claire. With the police making little headway on the case and one hard-nosed homicide detective fingering Claire as the primary suspect, Gil and Claire decide to take matters into their own hands. As they explore the victims' backgrounds, they are drawn into a world of gambling and shopping compulsions?and also of danger, particularly to Claire, who may become the killer's next target. While the potential for bibliomystery remains untapped despite Gil's profession, the TV business is convincingly detailed, the St. Louis setting is well drawn and the bantering interplay of Gil and Claire will leave readers looking forward to a sequel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The victims have been smothered, their eyes propped open and carefully placed so it appears they are watching television. Each has a tape in their VCR containing a lengthy selection from a St. Louis home-shopping network featuring local celebrity Clare Hunt. St. Louis cops Jason Holliday and Myra Longfellow must determine if Hunt is the next victim, the killer, or a red herring. Clare and her husband, Gil, in the tradition of amateur detectives everywhere, ignore the warning to "stay clear of the investigation" and follow their own intuition, which leads to a surprising and exciting conclusion. Randisi is the prolific creator of at least three other well-received series characters: Miles Jacoby, Nick Delvecchio, and Joe Keogh. This collaboration with St. Louis author Matthews is pleasantly entertaining, with the St. Louis setting providing an almost small-town atmosphere. Gil and Clare Hunt aren't Nick and Nora Charles, but they're still fun Let's hope we see them again.
Wes Lukowsky
