WORKING STIFF

Author: Tori Carrington ISBN: 9780765317445 9/2008 MYSTERY Publisher: FORGE

Sofie Metropolis’s PI business is so successful at finding missing spouses and lost pets and at proving insurance fraud that she’s hired new staff, including her (formerly) layabout cousin. There are two men in Sofie’s life: sexy Greek baker Dino, who found a place in her heart—and bed—in Foul Play, and man-of-mystery Jake Porter, whose Australian accent is guaranteed to turn Sofie’s knees to water. The week before Halloween, a body disappears from Sofie’s Aunt’s funeral home. It might be a holiday prank, but Sofie’s barely begun to investigate when she’s handed a truly hot case: prove the innocence of someone already on trial for murder!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Some stories have moments that are so incredibly amusing, I have to laugh out loud when I read them. WORKING STIFF has more than one passage that moved me to laughter. Tori Carrington has perfected the art of marrying mirth and romance.

Sofie Metropolis is a private investigator. Not a glamorous, glitzy PI, but a down-to-earth, Queens, New York, kind of investigator. She has had one failed almost-marriage and is living close enough to her family to be constantly under their scrutiny. When she goes to a viewing at her aunt's funeral parlor and finds the corpse missing, she is pulled (quite literally by her weird cousin through the curtain that hangs behind where the casket is supposed to be) into investigating the reason behind the empty coffin. Then, as if she doesn't have enough on her plate, she agrees to look into clearing a man whose sister believes he didn't murder his girlfriend. Everyone else in the City thinks the guy's guilty, but this Greek spitfire sets out to find proof of his innocence.

So, does it get any zanier than that? You bet it does. Sophie is surrounded by wild, over-the-top characters and goes from one comical situation to another. She's seeing a man on the sly and when he's factored into her life, there's no way she could ever be called ordinary. I loved Sofie!

I can't neglect to say that there is a bit in this story that creeped me out somewhat. If this was a pure romance rather than a mystery I would have been more disconcerted, but since it is a mystery and part of the unraveling touches on this funky topic, I won't say much. But, still, I have to say something so I'll just say one word. Necrophilia. It gave me the shivers; I admit, I skipped a page or two.

Still, I enjoyed this unusual investigator enough that I'll read the first three books in this series. I'll look forward to the next Sofie Metropolis mystery because the writing is top notch, the situations mostly hilarious, and the heroine is just so loveable I want to see her again. Too much fun!

Kay James