CRAZY RHYTHM

By T. W. Emory

This wonderful series began with the title, “Trouble in Rooster Paradise,” which introduced some extremely colorful characters, including the star of the series, Mr. Gunnar Nilson, P.I.

In this, book two of the Gunnar Nilson series, readers head back to the 1950’s. Nilson works as one of those beloved “hard-boiled” detectives while dwelling in a boarding house located in the mostly dark and wet city of Seattle.

This time out, our adventure begins when Gunnar decides to go with a friend by the name of Rune Granholm in order to collect some gambling winnings. Trouble is, when Gunnar arrives at Rune’s place, he finds Rune dead as a doornail, shot with his own gun. It doesn’t help that Gunnar knows this was a murder and not a whole lot of people liked Rune. In fact, no one seems very upset that the guy is dead. But since Gunnar has a history with the family, he takes on the non-paying investigation, while also taking on a real investigation in order to pay the bills.

The cash comes from Attorney Ethan Calmer. This is a worried man who wants Gunnar to investigate some seriously frightening calls that Calmer’s fiancée, Mercedes, is receiving. Mercedes is not living in some rough and tumble neighborhood, by the way. This is very much a rich girl living in a rich neighborhood that houses only Seattle’s higher echelon. Mercedes may be receiving odd phone calls, but she’s also more than a bit odd herself. As the investigations continue (both paid and un-paid), doors open that lead Gunnar to believe that somehow this rich girl has something to do with why Rune was found dead on the floor.

Readers will be thrilled that this series has continued. The tale is rich, and it will be interesting to see what Gunnar Nilson, P.I. is called upon to solve next time around.