Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 0-312-35475-4

JIGSAW is the first book in the new Carroll Quint series. Carroll is the entertainment critic for a San Francisco paper. A native San Franciscan, he is the son of eccentric, divorced parents who still share a house. His father is a dapper local piano player and the toast of the ladies in town and his mother is a former Bond girl and the old friend of two murdered show business old-timers. The murderer has taken it upon himself to email notices of his Hitchcock-themed murders to Carroll, setting him up to find the bodies and become the prime suspect.

But Carroll has other problems – the newspaper’s new cutthroat editor has made communicating with the murderer in an effort to get an award-winning story his top priority, causing Carroll’s younger rival to eye his beloved entertainment job. And Carroll is also the main suspect in the theft of a valuable necklace that was stolen from a theater party he attended so he is being hounded by two police departments and an insurance investigator simultaneously. To top it all off, he has to take his new girlfriend home to meet Mom.

JIGSAW is an enjoyable read with interesting characters. Books about theater and movies are always appealing and Kennealy mixes trivia, nostalgia, and gossip with a masterful hand. Carroll Quint is a fun character and his mother is an outright treat. The book’s only read drawback in my opinion is the lack of potential suspects. Although Kennealy manages to muddy the waters quite a bit, it is still fairly obvious who the killer will turn out to be.

Favorite character? Quint’s mother, closely followed by his girlfriend. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Yes. I will definitely look for the next book in the Quint series and will check out Kennealy’s Nick Polo series.

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

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