Nervous Laughter

Another in the fantastic Thomas Black series. Well written at a lively pace. Anyone who is not already hooked on Emerson's detective will be after this book.

Nervous Laughter is the third novel in Emerson's Thomas Black series, set in Seattle. Black is asked to follow Mark Daniels to find out if he is having an affair. When Black finds the lovers, they are dead, both Daniels and his teenage lover, Bea Hindenburg. The police rule it a murder-suicide, but Daniels' widow doesn't think so. Black finds quite a few suspects along the way in solving this case. Earl Emerson is one of the finest writers of mysteries today, and Nervous Laughter is one of the best of the series.

When I started to look at Emerson's reviews, I was startled that "Nervous Laughter" only got a "2 star" ranking. One reviewer obviously had something else in mind and probably didn't read the entire book. PI Thomas Black is following a rich man who is suspected of cheating on his wife. As he stakes out the site of the supposed tryst, he discovers that the rich man and his teenage lover are dead. Black must find out if it's murder or suicide. Earl Emerson is one of the best mystery writers working today. He paints a perfect picture of Seattle, and his 2 main characters, Thomas Black and Kathy Birchfield, are 2 of the most likeable characters in the mystery genre.

Mr. Darell Y. Hamamoto wrote a review that Mr. Black had copped the title from one of his book. The funny thing is that Mr. Emerson's book was written in 1986 and Mr. Hamamoto's was written in 1989. Seems like Mr. Hamamoto should make an apology to Mr.Emerson rather than the other way around. This a fine addition to the Thomas Black series.

This was a nice book in the Thomas Black style. Nothing was a big shock. The story emerged with good pacing, wasn't totally predictable. I enjoyed it.