A Ticket to Die for (Wild Onion Ltd. Mysteries) [Hardcover]

David J. Walker (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wild Onion Ltd. Mysteries | Publication Date: October 15, 1998

A former priest and now a practicing lawyer in Chicago, David J.Walker obviously knows a thing or two about how people behave. That knowledge enlivened his books about a private eye called Mal Foley (Applaud the Hollow Ghost), and now adds pleasure and promise to the start of a new series. Kirsten and Dugan are a married couple who met at the police academy; she`s now alaw-school dropout working as a private investigator, while he`s taken over his father`s lucrative but depressing personal-injury law practice. "She knew Dugan enjoyed his self-crafted image as a slightly tarnished, run-of-the-mill lawyer who exhausted his store of courage by sparring with insurance adjusters on the telephone. A comfortable image, and maybe he was tempted to believe in it. But the fact was that Dugan never backed off from any real challenge."That admiration is mutual, so Dugan lets himself be dragged along by Kirsten on a case involving a sleazy lawyer about to be disbarred, a mobbed-up adult bookstore called Cousin Freddy`s, and a missing exotic dancer known as Rita Ranchero. Both lead characters have distinct and well-developed personalities that mesh and occasionally clash, just like real couples we all know. If Walker can avoid a certain tendency toward coyness, this could be the beginning of a long and interesting relationship. --Dick Adler

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A former priest and now a practicing lawyer in Chicago, David J. Walker obviously knows a thing or two about how people behave. That knowledge enlivened his books about a private eye called Mal Foley (Applaud the Hollow Ghost), and now adds pleasure and promise to the start of a new series. Kirsten and Dugan are a married couple who met at the police academy; she's now a law-school dropout working as a private investigator, while he's taken over his father's lucrative but depressing personal-injury law practice. "She knew Dugan enjoyed his self-crafted image as a slightly tarnished, run-of-the-mill lawyer who exhausted his store of courage by sparring with insurance adjusters on the telephone. A comfortable image, and maybe he was tempted to believe in it. But the fact was that Dugan never backed off from any real challenge."

That admiration is mutual, so Dugan lets himself be dragged along by Kirsten on a case involving a sleazy lawyer about to be disbarred, a mobbed-up adult bookstore called Cousin Freddy's, and a missing exotic dancer known as Rita Ranchero. Both lead characters have distinct and well-developed personalities that mesh and occasionally clash, just like real couples we all know. If Walker can avoid a certain tendency toward coyness, this could be the beginning of a long and interesting relationship. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

A priest-turned-lawyer, Walker has written three gritty Mal Foley mysteries, including Half the Truth (1996). He now brings his crisp dialogue, a fine comic edge and a cast of sharply drawn supporting characters to a new series featuring a spirited wife-and-husband sleuthing team based in Chicago. The husband is Dugan, a police academy dropout who's now a lawyer specializing in personal injury cases; the wife is Kirsten, a law-school dropout and former cop who's now a PI. Kirsten asks Dugan to accompany her to Cousin Freddy's, an adult bookstore where she hopes to track down a witness. Instead, the pair are near witnesses to a killing that may be a Mafia hit and that marks them for similar attention. A kidnapped exotic dancer, two further murders, a pair of vicious thugs and a slew of lawyers (a cheap shyster, a powerful deal-maker, a couple of militant anti-pornography crusaders) are among the highlights that make this adventure complex and memorable. The spotlight, however, belongs to the leads, whose interplay is wry but not cutesy, and will have readers looking forward to the next in the series. Agent, Jane Jordan Browne.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312193459
• ISBN-13: 978-0312193454
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,028,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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