In his 10th appearance, Deets Shanahan (Bloody Palms, 2008, etc.) becomes his brother’s keeper, more or less.
The brothers Shanahan were born into a dysfunctional family that soon enough transmogrified into a nonexistent one. In the aftermath, Fritz vanished into his own private diaspora. Deets (for Dietrich), as his followers know, went on to become in turn a career soldier, a private eye and then, unexpectedly, the fortunate lover of beautiful, generous-hearted and much younger Maureen. In ways that Deets could not possibly articulate, he knows that it’s at least partially because of her that at 72—after 60 years of separation—he’s decided “to find Fritz Shanahan before one of them died.” On to Thailand, then, where there’s been a plausible sighting of Fritz. Meanwhile, back in Indianapolis, Howie Cross, Deets’s sometime peeper partner, is finding trouble without even trying. Just like that, he’s a suspect in a double homicide. More homicides provide more reasons for the Indianapolis PD to demonstrate a deepening, bothersome attachment to him. In Bangkok, too, body bags have begun filling at an alarming rate. By now it’s clear to Deets that someone else is searching for Fritz as hard as he is, someone relentless, someone whose objectives are not in the least fraternal.
Tierney is as entertaining as ever. In particular, thumbs up for the nice, understated septuagenarian love story.
