Dead Man's Hand

Freddie O'Neal, Catherine Dain's dauntless plane-flying, keno-playing Private Investigator, finds herself surrounded by survivalists, clergy, mothers, and the sights and sounds of Christmas in what is hopefully not the last of this wonderful series. When Freddie's boyfriend is accosted at a Reno shopping mall, Freddie, defending him, shoots and kills the assailant. With her boyfriend in the hospital, her mother and his converging on Reno for the holidays, and even her buddy Deke in a testy mood, Freddie is not in the mood for Christmas. This increases when a clergyman asks Freddie's assistance in unraveling a crime that involves -- you guessed it -- the teenager she shot at the mall. As are all of Dain's mysteries, Dead Man's Hand is smoothly written and addictively readable. I neglected every aspect of my life for the day it took to devour Dead Man's Hand. If there is any flaw with this book, it is that the mystery is transparent to alert readers, and that, if rumours are true, it may be Freddie's last transcribed case.