MURPHY MURPHY AND THE CASE OF SERIOUS CRISIS

A detective with an aversion to redundancies works a theft case that spins off into a missing person investigation in this mystery.

Detective Murphy Murphy is a one-man show at the Department of Redundancy Department. His superior, Capt. David Hill, assigns him a new case: Someone may be stealing personal items from members of the popular rock band Serious Crisis. Frontman Walter “DeMaio” Turrell is missing his $1,800 lighter while keyboardist/guitarist/songwriter Lyndsay Howlund, who is Hill’s niece, can’t find a set of golf balls. Murphy individually interviews and looks into the band members, their manager, and several roadies. It’s not always easy, as the detective seethes at people’s many redundancies (including “true fact” and a budget that’s “dwindling down”). But Murphy quickly has a suspect in Serious Crisis’ enigmatic “loyal” fan who doesn’t like answering questions. Then the case takes an unexpected turn when two people—Lyndsay and a roadie—disappear soon after they supposedly quarreled. It’s obvious that more than one individual has been lying to Murphy, whose investigation takes him to Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles. Tracking down the missing pair may be the key to solving the entire mystery. Hirshland’s lighthearted story is often funny, as it incorporates abundant redundancies—not merely the ones Murphy notes. Most notable of these are the band’s name and its album titles, Ascend Up the Ladder and Basic Fundamentals. But there’s a genuine mystery as well. It begins as a relatively simple case and becomes increasingly dire while certain characters turn out to be more complex than they initially appear. Nevertheless, Murphy’s input is minimal, and the enigmas unravel predominantly on their own. The author rounds out the entertaining narrative with romance (Murphy is interested in female bartender Charlie Carlucci) and humorous backstories, like the origin of DeMaio’s nickname.

A pleasantly offbeat whodunit that introduces a quirky sleuth.