Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of How to Lose a Job by Becky A. Bartness. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
How to Lose a Job by Becky A. Bartness
A Kate Williams Mystery
iUniverse (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-595-49709-8 (0595497098)
ISBN-13: 978-0-595-49709-6 (9780595497096)
Publication Date: February 2009
List Price: $21.95
Review: Kate Williams so much enjoyed her time in Arizona (the setting for the first mystery in this series) that she decides to move there, quitting her high-stress job in Chicago for a presumably more tranquil routine in How to Lose a Job, the second mystery in this series by Becky A. Bartness.
After working 14 years as a successful criminal law attorney, Kate accepts a position with the Maricopa County (Phoenix) Attorney's Office. It doesn't pay nearly as well, but the quality of life is better. Getting settled in means reviewing current cases before the county, and what she sees is puzzling. Cases that should have been classified as misdemeanors are entered as felonies. Cases that should have been dismissed for lack of evidence are still active. As Kate and her assistants delve deeper, she runs the risk of antagonizing her supervisor, Stan Rantwist, a religious fanatic with his own agenda: ridding the county of sin and using a "higher authority" as both his spiritual and legal guide. Kate enlists the help of the deputy sheriff, and together they discover an extensive drug trafficking ring that may have links to the County Attorney's Office. But can Kate sort all this out before she's given her walking papers and loses her new job ... or worse?
How to Lose a Job is filled with delightfully quirky characters, especially Kate's assistants, the heavily tattooed and pieced MJ and the obsessive/compulsive clean freak Sam. Kate, herself, is quick and witty, and her new dog Ralph always brightens the narrative whenever he's present. The story is light and breezy, and fits well with the characters and setting. How to Lose a Job is an entertaining mystery and makes for a pleasant way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of How to Lose a Job and to Becky A. Bartness for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
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Synopsis (from the publisher): After working fourteen years as a successful criminal law attorney in Chicago, Kate Williams leaves her job looking for a more stress-free lifestyle. A recent vacation at an Arizona dude ranch entices her to the state, and she accepts a position as a deputy county attorney in Phoenix.
Within weeks of beginning her new position, Kate realizes that the Maricopa County Attorney's Office is not the employee haven she'd hoped it would be. Not only does her supervisor, County Attorney Stan Rantwist, claim he receives his orders from a higher power, but his sneaky assistant Alan White seems to have made it his life's work to spy on Kate's professional and personal activities. Worst of all, it looks like something illegal may be going on in the office. Kate enlists the help of her oddball assistants-the tattooed and pierced MJ Polowski and the germaphobic Marcus John Martinez-O'Reilly Ramirez, otherwise known as Sam-to help her investigate a series of grossly overcharged criminal cases.
When investigation of the improper charges leads Kate and her crew to the discovery of more serious, widespread corruption Kate faces the difficult decision of who to trust. Can she be sure that the handsome Deputy Sheriff Bryan Turner is on her side when he offers to assist? One misstep and it could be more than her career at stake.
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