Workman’s Complication is a gripping, entertaining mystery that is filled with laughs, thrills, and edge-of-your-seat moments. I was hooked from the first hilarious sentence: It was harder to sing with the vampire teeth than I thought it would be.
Kate’s dad dies and leaves her his private detective business. Kate McCall doesn’t want to be a detective; she is an actress. But someone approaches her about a case. No matter how much she tries to resist, this case about a man, Ken Curry, who claims he fell off of scaffolding and injured his back catches her interest. The injured man is suing Barkowsi, his employer. Thing is, no one saw him fall; they just found him lying on the ground. If he wins the lawsuit against his Barkowski, he and his family will lose everything.
The supposedly injured man isn’t making any mistakes. He always moves like he has been hurt and has a doctor backing up his claims. Kate and her friends are going to have to get very creative to catch him.
Kate also is trying to find out who killed her dad. His death was rather unsettling. She loved him, yes, but the fact that both of his eyes were blown out didn’t make his unexpected death any easier. She wants his killer found, even if she has to be the one to do it.
What about her finding out it was harder to sing with vampire teeth than she thought? It’s hard to forget about that. Kate is an actress, rehearsing for an off-off-off-off Broadway play in which she plays a thirsty Cajun vampire in New York City. I wonder, did the author wear vampire teeth and try to sing and talk with them in? Is that how he knew what she actually said sounded like to others?
If you hadn’t already figured it out, Kate is one busy lady and a character you will never forget. She enlists the help of a few of the other crazy tenants of her brownstone—The House of Emotional Tics—and the actors in her theater troupe to help her solve these cases. Things don’t go as planned when Kate is almost murdered then arrested for committing murder.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any fan of crime/mystery/thriller novels will love this book and its unconventional characters. Is proving that Curry doesn’t have a back injury even possible? And if Kate survives, will she discover who was behind her dad’s murder? If you would like to read this book and find the answers to those questions, I’ve provided an Amazon link below.
Amazon Link: Workman’s Complication (McCall & Company Book 1)
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imagination and reality, ladyjudina.deviantart.com
Favorite Sentences:
Debt is as American as cheeseburgers, and I had accrued my share, thank you very much, Mr. Visa.
Wasn’t this just the kind of hand-written-cocktail-napkin thing I should turn over to homicide?
As enormous as her office was, it was hardly large enough to hold both Ms.Russell and her ego.
Freed from the fear of fang failure, I hunted my prey with a gusto I had not until now discovered.
It was six thirty, still brutally hot and humid as hell, one of those summer Saturdays where an idiot somewhere in the city actually tries to fry an egg on the sidewalk.
photomontage, wikipedia
New Words Learned:
nebulous – hazy, vague, indistinct, or confused
notaphile – a collector of banknotes or paper money
numismatist – someone who studies or collects coins, paper currency, and/or medals
philatelist – someone who collects and studies postage stamps
photomontage – a montage constructed from photographic images
swank – behavior, talk, or display intended to impress others
About the Author:
Rich Leder has been a working writer for more than two decades. His screen credits include 18 produced television films for CBS, Lifetime, and Hallmark, feature films for Paramount Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, and Left Bank Films, and four novels for Laugh Riot Press.
He has been the lead singer in a Detroit rock band, a restaurateur, a Little League coach, an indie film director, a literacy tutor, a magazine editor, a screenwriting coach, a PTA board member, a commercial real estate agent, and a visiting artist for the University of North Carolina Wilmington Film Studies Department, among other things, all of which, it turns out, was grist for the mill. He resides on the North Carolina coast with his awesome wife, Lulu, and is sustained by the visits home of their three children.
Awesome, Lisa! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing Workman’s Complication. I’m thrilled you had fun with Kate and her crew. I must admit, I have a blast writing the McCall & Company series. I’m grateful to you for sharing my book with your readers. Your support means everything to me…