Liar, Liar by K.J.Larsen
Watch out, Janet Evanovich ! A new player(s) is here. K.J. Larsen the pseudonym of three sisters, has written Liar, Liar, the first in the Cat DeLuca series. Caterina DeLuca, daughter and niece of countless Chicago cops and one cannoli-slinging Mama is a perfect Midwestern successor to Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. The sexy, plucky, owner of the “Pants on Fire Detective Agency: We Catch Liars and Cheats” based in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, finds herself in the middle of a bomb explosion while stalking a filandering husband for a client. When the client ends up dead and the hunky previously-assumed dead husband reappears at odd times, Cat sets out to prove that not only is she not hallucinating, but that an extremely rich man is behind the murders. Larsen has provided a wonderful cast of characters ranging from a mother who keeps her local priest’s phone number on speed dial, a sausage loving pup, neighborhood restaurant owners who provide sustenance to man and beast alike, a recalcitrant political police chief and 2 men who provide all of the sexual tension necessary to this genre. Lots of twists and turns and an inventive ending made for an extremely enjoyable read…hope those girls have a second Cat DeLuca novel in the pipeline.
