Customer Reviews

Poet in the Gutter (Sam Taylor Mysteries)

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Sam Turner was out and down on his luck. He recently divorced his second wife and is now trying to put his life back in order. He joins a men's group and lies to the group telling them that he is a private investigator. Shortly thereafter he is hired as one and someone from the group asks him to track his wife whom he suspects of cheating. Seems easy enough until Turner's client is found dead. Sam knows it could not have been the wife since he has been tracking her all day. It is not until he investigates the case a bit further and finds out that his client was a victim of a serial killer.

This book appears to be the beginning of a new series. The main character is trying to get back on his feet and he is helping everyone he can. He turns from a nobody into a somebody in a short time. He now runs a detective agency with the help of acquaintances he has made along the way. They help him as well as each other. Most of the supporting characters are looking for a meaning to their lives and Sam helps to provide it. POET IN THE GUTTER is an excellent start for a promising new author.

Sam Turner is adrift emotionally and financially when he tells his new men's group in York that he's a private investigator. Soon one of the members makes Sam's fantasy into reality when he hires Sam to follow his perhaps errant wife. When murder is part of the case Sam finds himself exchanging information with the York police. Gaining a bit of fame after a televised interview, Sam is inundated with work offers and must hire some assistants. Celia, a retired Quaker teacher becomes his motherly and intelligent office manager. Sam hires his pool shooting friend Gus, who also happens to be a whizz with electronics, to help. Little by little Sam befriends a homeless teen named Geordie and adds him to the team. Characterization is the strongest element of this book, although the mystery is good, too. The characters spring to life from the very first and keep the reader intrigued. This is the first book in a series of four, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves good crime fiction.

Sam and the crew he picks up along the way are diverse and delightful. Although the dialogue is weak in points and the plot fairly light, it is definitely the characters that drive this book. I am definitely going to follow Sam and the crew to see where their adventures take them as this looks to be a very enjoyable new series.