Customer Reviews

Royal Flush: A Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente Mystery (Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente Series)

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Shelley Singer, like fellow award winning mystery authors Robert Ferrigno and Laura Lippman, has a journalism background. Another similarity is the superior quality and subtlety of her wordsmithing. In Royal Flush, Singer's PI team of Jake Samsom and Rosie Vincente have to infiltrate the labyrinthine world of the skinhead culture. I felt I was walking the tightrope of suspense and intrigue right along with Jake and Rosie. I never felt I had to "suspend disbelief" to get into the story. It moves with a real life flavor imbedded within the characters, motivations and plot. Jake's and Rosie's thoughts and comments -- including the humor -- were absolutely "right on." I adored Jake's thoughts when in the presence of the skinheads. His PI's cool sometimes got swamped with his feelings of danger, disdain and lust. Jake and Rosie are readily believable as normal people struggling to blend in with and understand the skinhead hierarchy. The twists, turns and resolution were vintage Singer -- unpredictable and fresh. She writes so that you unravel the story right along with Jake and Rosie. As a reader, I really appreciated the subtle way Singer makes her characters and plotting so clear and vibrant that I never had to "back read" when I interrupted my reading for a couple days due to "real life." But I could just pick up Royal Flush, read the next sentence and it all came back to me like I never put the book down.

There have been many changes to the private detective team of Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente. They no longer operate out of Oakland as they relocated to Marin County. However, the biggest transformation is at the helm. Jake now works for Rosie as opposed to her toiling for him as it previously was. Though they rarely agree on which case to accept, they always back one another up with their lives.

Jake's best buddy Artie Perone is watching his god-daughter Deanne. Her boy friend Royal needs help with a predicament he has gotten himself into and Deanne wants him to hire Jake. Royal wants out from the Aryan Command, a Neo-Nazi crowd in which he is a member. The only exit is death. Although the job is repulsive to the Jewish Jake, he takes on the case to insure Deanne remains safe from the vengeance of the group. Jake and Rosie go undercover, but find it nearly impossible to separate the good guys from the villains.

Impatient fans who have waited too long for the reappearance of Jake and Rosie will find ROYAL FLUSH is a winning hand that was worth the wait. The protagonists retain that familiar friendly feel even as circumstances have changed for them. The well-done story line is socially relevant as hate groups seem to be proliferating at an alarming rate. Shelly Singer escorts her audience into the soul of a particularly nasty one. Fans of the series will enjoy this entry that also will provide much pleasure to first time readers.