If you're going to spend your day trying to figure out how dead people got dead, Mike Lomax reflects near the beginning of Marshall Karp's second novel, you need hellip;the Forensics Trifecta. Brains, heart, and a twisted sense of humor. Not surprisingly, BLOODTHIRSTY, once again featuring Lomax and his wisecracking partner Terry Biggs, has the whole Trifecta down pat.
In their first book, 2006's THE RABBIT FACTORY, Biggs and Lomax solved a high-profile series of murders behind the scenes at Southern California's largest theme park. At the beginning of BLOODTHIRSTY, our heroes have stars (and dollar signs) in their eyes after they're approached by a director who wants to make a movie based on that case. All that's missing is funding from big-time producer Barry Gerber, one of the most powerful (and most despised) men in Hollywood.
After Gerber fails to attend the premiere of one of his own movies, it appears that Gerber himself may be missing as well. When the famous producer's body turns up in a garbage can, the biggest challenge facing Biggs and Lomax may be figuring out who's not on the list of suspects. A puzzling cause of death and a lengthy list of possible perpetrators results in a complicated mystery --- one that Biggs, at least, hopes will result not only in a closed case but also another movie deal.
Like Marshall Karp's debut, BLOODTHIRSTY is worthwhile as much for the repartee between its main characters as it is for its mystery plot. Terry Biggs's sarcastic sense of humor, as well as Mike Lomax's often-failed attempts to rein in Biggs's more outrageous jokes, give the novel a lighthearted approach that tempers the rather gruesome nature of the crimes. In addition to the good-natured working relationship shared by Biggs and Lomax, readers will enjoy watching Karp develop his characters, particularly Lomax, a widower who still grieves his late wife even as he tries to find a way forward with his new love.
In fact, these humor and character elements are the main reason for fans to pick up --- and stick with --- BLOODTHIRSTY. Occasional glimpses into the killer's point of view reveal the identity of the perpetrator as well as much of the motive rather early on in the novel, lessening the suspense somewhat. Hollywood insider jokes may also be lost on some readers, though it's certain that Karp, a long-time Hollywood writer and producer, knows of what he writes.
Although perhaps not as polished or innovative as THE RABBIT FACTORY, BLOODTHIRSTY nevertheless will further Karp's reputation as a humorous mystery writer in the vein of Elmore Leonard, Kinky Friedman and Carl Hiaasen.
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