Warning -- Raymond Chandler is spinning in his grave! This is the debut mystery for Sparkle Hayter's protagonist, Robin Hudson, a sort of on-air Lois Lane without a Superman or anything resembling conventional wisdom. Let's start by admitting the book connects with reality only in a tangential way. If you're looking for a serious, deep or "realistic" mystery, this series isn't it.
If on the other hand you're the kind of person who loves films like "Bringing Up Baby" or "Our Man Godfrey" and want the literary escapist equivalent, you'll find this series a delight and should begin with this one.
Robin Hudson, third-string reporter for the All News Network, is at a low ebb in the sea of life. Her husband has traded her in for a younger, sexier model; she's in the doghouse at work because she belched into a live microphone at a White House press conference and now someone's turned up dead -- someone who was trying to blackmail her, someone who died from a blow with a blunt instrument, someone she was suppose to meet shortly after storming out of an office party waving a tire iron.
Welcome to Robin Hudson's world.
The plot zings along giving the reader, and the lead character, little time to think. It feels like a Fellini flick in fast forward -- if Felini had the sense of humor of James Thurber. The dialog is like a conversation from Moonlighting at it's peak -- fast, charming and not necessarily coherent.
The mystery is not overly complex, but because of the pace and the terrific dialog, you don't worry about it. Robin Hudson is a likeable protagonist armed with her Epilady shaver and other self-defense ploys of the wickedly clever and cleverly wicked modern young woman. I suspect that the character, and series, is more popular with women than men. The men in the book do not come off very well. Been then, neither does New York City.
You read the Hudson mysteries for the characters, the absurdist humor and the slick dialog. The word "hilarious" springs to the lips but doesn't really capture the fun. Like any good comedy, it's more of a frolic. You feel guilty pleasure in devouring the words from the page. Hayter is not a fine writer, but certainly a competent one -- particularly with comedy.
I mean how serious can a mystery be that involves Sperm Bank mix-ups, a transvestite boyfriend and a terrorist little old Catholic lady armed with a chihuahua named Senor?
A wonderful beginning to a delightful series of humorous mysteries.
Recommended:
