Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 978-0-425-21348-3

Death on the Flop is about Belinda (Bee) Cooley and her brother Ben. Bee has just had a long-term romance bust up and quit her job in the same week, so Ben drags her off to Las Vegas where he has entered a Texas Hold’em poker tournament. Unfortunately, Ben disappears shortly after they arrive and Bee is convinced he has been kidnapped. Well, she hopes he has been kidnapped because the alternatives aren’t very nice.

Bee enlists the help of a stranger, a security consultant, to help find her brother and keep herself safe from a local police officer who she fears is involved with her brother’s disappearance. Bee decides the best way to stay safe is to take her brother’s place in the poker tournament so she will be on view and untouchable in the middle of the casino. Unfortunately, she has never played poker before, so the handsome stranger gives her a crash course.

For those of you who don’t know how to play poker, Death on the Flop contains directions so you won’t be completely at sea – you basically learn as Bee does, which is a nice approach. However, don’t be misled by her tournament successes. The author is using a great deal of literary license and most people who play with only two days experience will be trounced. Poker is a game that takes practice.

This book has an interesting underlying plot but suffers from the loosey goosey style the author uses in spots. You can’t help but roll your eyes when the author has a character murdered, dismembered, and deposited in a dumpster in the span of just 10 or 15 minutes. Everyone knows it takes longer than that to chop up a body, especially if you are being tidy. But if suspension of disbelief is something you are good at (and you like a fair amount of romance in your mysteries) this isn’t a bad book.

Favorite character? The Women of Wall Street. Did I guess it? No. Will I read another? With this style of writing, this author wouldn’t be high on my list, but hasn’t dropped off completely, either.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

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