THE ARM AND THE FALL

An aging sportscaster and a Los Angeles police detective dodge hit men while investigating a quarterback’s murder in this debut mystery.

Nearly 60 years old, Jerry Cushing has covered the St. Louis Rivermen football team for three decades. Before he leaves for a championship game in LA, his bosses make it clear that this will be his final broadcast. But they may reconsider when Jerry gets a scoop; he livestreams the site of the Rivermen’s star quarterback’s death. Danny “The Arm” Wilcox dove off an LA hotel. But was his death a suicide? Jerry later receives an anonymous package with, surprisingly, Danny’s severed arm. The sportscaster teams up with detective Rockie Suarez, who takes guff from no one and brandishes a sawed-off, double-barrel semiautomatic. She investigates the possible homicide with Jerry, acting as a “consultant,” while struggling to keep them away from assassins’ bullets and grenades. Meanwhile, there’s a slew of murder suspects, from the team’s owner, who didn’t like the quarterback hogging the spotlight, to Danny’s movie actor wife, who regularly cheated on him. Getting answers out of these people won’t be easy, especially with someone gunning for Jerry and Rockie. Tanguay, a sportscaster and actor, delivers an enjoyable story that runs full tilt. For example, Jerry and Rockie have mutual feelings, engage in gunfights, and look into another death that’s unquestionably a homicide. The curious couple refreshingly stray from convention; they’re both middle-aged, and the gritty woman takes the dominant role (and not just in bed). The protagonists’ expletive-laden banter and relentless cynicism make for a mostly lighthearted read, though the humor is often dark and not always funny. At one point, Jerry blurts out “That was awesome!” after witnessing a criminal’s particularly brutal death. Action, comedy, and romance take precedence over the murder mystery, as the investigative duo’s interrogations generally turn up nothing. Still, the gleefully over-the-top ending is one that readers won’t soon forget.

A diverting romance propels this brisk, sporadically violent thriller.