Product Description

Packed with all the outrageous shenanigans that quickly marked Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? and Cast in Stone as two of the most original mysteries in years, G.M. Ford crafts a devilishly funny and bat-out-of-hell paced novel featuring his smart-aleck yet irrepressible Seattle-based p.i., Leo Waterman.

Nobody loves you when you're down and out--except maybe Leo Waterman. As a man who has transformed a gaggle of residentially challenged devotees of cheap alcohol into a crack surveillance team, Leo has a soft spot for society's downtrodden. When a homeless woman says she's the mother of a deceased rock idol, Leo takes it upon himself to investigate the lady's claim, thereby embroiling the Boys, his dissolute deputies, and his ownalready bruised body in a high speed, life-threatening pursuit of the truth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #239549 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Released on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
Seattle's own Leo Waterman is back--along with the very motley crew of once and future alcoholics like Nearly Normal Norman who help him with his investigations. While looking for a missing member of the group, Leo and Co. stop a rape and get involved in the overdose death of a famous Seattle musician who might remind you of recent headlines. As in his two previous books in the Waterman series, Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? and Cast in Stone, both available in softcover, G. M. Ford writes pungent, hilarious dialogue and manages to make us care about the lives of people we walk past on the street every day.

From Booklist
Now in its third installment, Ford's Leo Waterman novels have leapfrogged the competition among Seattle detective series. This time out, Leo has plenty on his plate: one of the "boys," the homeless cronies he often uses for legwork, has gone missing; he's hired to find a librarian who has scammed the city's automated acquisitions system out of 200 grand; and he's on the trail of a record producer who may have arranged the overdose of a grunge rock star. The various plots and their joint resolution come together seamlessly--aided by some nifty online sleuthing--but what really makes this series shine is the ensemble interplay between Leo and his crew of homeless assistants. Like the "rude mechanicals" in one of Shakespeare's dark comedies, Waterman's supporting cast not only adds humor to the proceedings but also offers ironic commentary on the lead characters and their mainstream world, undercutting pretentiousness while displaying their own character flaws with a believable mixture of panache and melancholy. A fine series that keeps getting better. Bill Ott

From Kirkus Reviews
A hunt through Seattle's darkest neighborhoods for Ralph Batista, one of the Irregulars who helps shamus Leo Waterman solve cases and put away booze, leads not only to sozzled Ralph, but to an unexpectedly helpful ally: savvy streetperson Selena Dunlap, who tells Leo where Ralph is likely to be staying, stands up to a police grilling when the Irregulars' rescue mission turns irregular, and casually mentions that she's the mother of Lukkas Terry, the rocker who'd been on top of the world until the cops found him with a needle sticking out of his arm. It's something for Leo to mull over while he gets on with his newest paying job: finding Karen Mendolson, the enterprising librarian who skedaddled with her underwear, her desktop computer, and $193,000 of the public library's money. Since the two cases don't come together till the last few pages, fans of Leo's first two outings (Cast in Stone, 1996, etc.), like the detective himself, will have to make do with shuttling back and forth between a computer- guided search for the larcenous librarian (not much to chew on here, though habitu‚s of the DorothyL conference site will crack a smile) and poking around among the supernova heirs of the Terry estate trying to raise some hackles without getting Selena Dunlap killed. Both plots go flat in the end, but Ford's way with dialogue and characters--he's well on his way to becoming the Raymond Chandler of Seattle--may keep you from noticing. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Bum's Rush well worth the read
If you haven't read the first two Leo Waterman mysteries, then you should. G.M. Ford has created a cast as confused and convoluted as his own name. He keeps you laughing without pushing it too far, creates great tension, and manages to get Leo through another crises once again (relatively) unscathed. Once you read this one, you'll want to go back and catch-up with the first two.

Enthralling
I would have started with the first of the series, but was unable to find it (since I was away from the Northwest at the time), so I settled with book three. This story is perfect - believable characters, interesting plotline, the best dialogue I think i've ever read - weaved flawlessly into one very funny book.

Best of all G. M. Ford knows his city well and taps into some of its eccentricities well, which is a special treat for Northwesterners. After reading "Skid Road" by Murray Morgen, I would say that Leo Waterman's father is based off of Vic Meyers, a historic Seattle politician whose real campaigns were outrageously funny in their own right, which is just one little tidbit that gives a sense of realism and authority to the surroundings.

Good Read, Lousy Climax
I enjoyed this first experience with Leo Waterman and his crack surveillance team of "residentially challenged" dipsomaniacs (an adult version of the Baker Street Irregulars), but I hate it when I'm only a couple of pages from the end of a book and the climax and resolution haven't even begun yet. Here, we're on page 288 of 301 for the penultimate scene. Leo and his gang have had plenty of time to set up the sting but it all happens too fast and almost gets away from them. I felt like I was getting the "Bum's Rush" through what could have been the best part of the book. Logically, there was no reason not to turn over what they knew to the cops and frankly, the regulars would have done a better job.

As to the NYTBR comment that "the cityscapes of Seattle are worth the trip", I agree, but I'd like to see the publishers (or author or fan group) put out a companion web page with (interactive) google maps annotated with pictures that would show us of the local scenery and let us follow the Leo around as he motors about in his modified Fiat.