Book Review: Last Ditch

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Last Ditch     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
G. M. Ford
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator   Humorous
Series: Leo Waterman # 5
Avon Twilight, Mar 1999, $22.00, 280 pp.

Seattle private investigator Leo Waterman and his girl friend Rebecca Duvall move into the mansion he inherited from his father, Wild Bill. The yard looks like no one touched it for the past decade. To rectify that, Leo puts "The Boys" to work, his homeless, usually intoxicated assistants.They are charged with cleaning up the yard. However, the crew uncovers a skeleton, which turns out to be Peerless Price, a reporter missing for over two decades.

Though his politico father loathed Peerless, Leo cannot believe his father would kill the ultra-right wing journalist. Leo becomes obsessed to investigate the mystery in order to save his father's reputation. The more he digs the more the evidence points towards Bill being the killer.

In the fifth novel, LAST DITCH, the Leo Waterman series remains a humorous, entertaining Seattle sleuthing series. The twists and turns that are trademarks of G.M. Ford are all in this novel. Leo, Rebecca and his assistants are interesting characters, who make the story line even more fun to read. The addition of personal glimpses of Leo's childhood and Wild Bill help humanize an already brilliant series. Anyone who reads LAST DITCH will want to peruse the previous four novels because they read like a BMW.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner