The 2nd novel by Scott Bywater sees the return of green as grass private investigator Sam Chauvel in another wickedly humorous mystery. Chauvel made his first appearance in Captain Zooba To the Rescue when he decided that he had what it takes to make it in the detection racket. After an occasionally calamitous first escapade he’s onto his new case taking on the corporate world in Love Is In the Air-Conditioning.

Sam Chauvel is well on his way to actually earning his private investigator’s license under the tutelage of Lena Torelli, the sexy, qualified private eye who, unfortunately for Sam, is dating Rex, his best friend. She manages to line up a job for him working undercover for a management consultancy firm called HemmingsLloyd, “a small firm that thinks big”.

Someone from inside the company has been siphoning off the profits, at least 10 per cent of the cash income that’s going into the company is simply disappearing. Sam’s job is to find out who the corporate thief is and the best way to do that is to take an executive position while subtly pumping his fellow employees for information.

A couple of things become immediately obvious when starts his undercover work. The first is that he sucks at keeping the whole undercover thing a secret and the second is that his complete lack of knowledge of the job that he’s pretending to do stands him on pretty much a par with his fellow employees.

With all of the quirky humour of the first book, Love Is In the Air-Conditioning is great fun, poking ruthlessly at the self-important executives of the corporate world. Returning, too, are all of the characters who helped make Captain Zooba such an enjoyable story. From cyber-geek Rex and his dog Rex to Wil Dreamsworth, the aging flash-in-the-pan rock star and Sam’s enigmatic neighbour, known to us as Mr Aqua-Pants, he’s the man with all the answers. Although the focus is on Sam and his attempts at playing detective, it’s the supporting characters with their petty squabbles, unusual foibles and amusing banter that keeps the story lively.

At a mere 140 pages, this is an extremely fast-paced book with very little time set aside for detailed scene set-ups or character descriptions. It’s almost hit-and-run in style as each scene crashes in on top of the one before, but it’s done with an engaging humour that ensures that anyone who has ever worked in an office will be nodding their heads in knowing agreement.

As far as the actual crime being investigated by Sam goes, well, let’s just say that his luck with women hasn’t really changed and it was clear from early on who was stealing from the company. But really, Love Is In the Air-Conditioning is more about the entertaining way Sam goes about his investigation rather than the actual outcome itself, much the same way that this is true of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books (One For the Money, Two For the Dough, etc).

Scott Bywater has done a terrific job of continuing on the Sam Chauvel story, a delightfully easy-going detective mystery series told with quirky good humour and the odd sharply pointed observation into human nature. This is the kind of book with which you can sit back, get comfortable and simply cruise along for the ride.

Looking to read about a go-getter PI with a can-do attitude who is willing to learn? Read all about Sam Chauvel in:

Captain Zooba To the Rescue

This review is also published on The Australian Crime Fiction Database at www.crimedownunder.com




Recommended: Yes