Reading BLOOD ORANGE will give
you a tingle--that tingle you get when you read a book by an author that's new
to you and you realize right away that you are going to love the book and the
characters and the writer. Karen Keskinen's debut mystery opens with a horrific
crime and then plunges us into the complicated life of Santa Barbara private
detective Jamie Zarlin. Jaymie's just barely paying the rent on her office when
the formidable Gabi shows up. Her schizophrenic nephew has been arrested for
the rape/murder and she is convinced he didn't do it. Jaymie is skeptical, but she's
still grieving the death of her own mentally ill brother and she doesn't have
the heart to say no to Gabi.
Not that Gabi is giving her the
option.
Jaymie's ensuing investigation
brings her closer to two men who are both very interested in being
closer to her, a sexy cop who's got marriage on his mind and an even sexier
attorney who operates just on the right side of sleaze. (And yes, if this
reminds you of the love triangle in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books,
that's probably not an accident although Keskinen's characters seem a bit more
real and Jaymie's reasons for holding back her commitment seem to be more solid
than Stephanie's.)
The Santa Barbara of the book is
at once the lovely beach town beloved of tourists and home to an upscale
community and a place of dark alleys and shadowed corners where gangs lurk and
violence has a racial edge. The mystery itself is extremely complicated, even
convoluted, but it's also setting up a world where race and class permeate
everything that takes place.
Keskinen's got a real knack for
character and the characters who are going to be "regulars" in the
series are definitely people we want to see again. Those who may just be
passing through for this one story--like the murdered girl's tough-talking
little sister and a wealthy old woman who is sharper than everyone around her
and has no problem letting them know it--are vivid and memorable.
The death of a beautiful young
woman during a solstice festival is only the beginning of the mysteries here
and BLOOD ORANGE is only the first of what I hope will be many mysteries
"starring" Jaymie.
Here's an interview with Keskinen.
Here's an interview with Keskinen.
