HOOKED UP

Think NASCAR races provide thrills and chills? How about a murder at the track?

Ex-cop Glad Wycznewski and his beautiful wife Ruby, no dumb blonde, are driving their RV to the Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway when softhearted Ruby picks up a badly beaten Bill Paxton and his cat Malibu and lends them their bed. Glad’s not happy with the company, and even less happy when Bill falls to his death from a raceway bridge. It turns out that Bill’s the twin to wealthy casino owner Phil and brother to older race-car driver John. Private eye Whitaker Forsythe tells the Wycznewskis that the twins were suspects in an unsolved armored car robbery of $10 million. Did Bill commit suicide or was he a murder victim? And was it in fact Bill or Phil who took the plunge? Enjoying the racing scene and pulling for their favorite drivers takes a back seat to sleuthing when Glad and Ruby’s RV is tossed and trashed and John Paxton is kidnapped. Though Glad would rather leave the whole mess to the local police, Ruby drags him into a number of dangerous escapades in an attempt to solve the crime and collect some of the reward for finding the loot.

NASCAR fans will enjoy the information on racing in this second volume in the Stock Car Racing series (Swapping Paint, 2007); strangers to the Lavenes’ backlist will have to pick their way through a confusing plot.