Review: Dead File

Maxi Poole [TV anchor in LA] is recovering from an attack that could have taken her life [see The Reporter]. She keeps telling herself to be more careful and stay out of trouble - which is like telling a kitten to stay out of your knitting; she may try, but it never works. When an urgent AP printout flashes up on her computer screen, Maxi grabs a film crew and heads for downtown LA where the head of a billion-dollar dietary supplement company has been found dead in her high-rise office. Because Maxi never lets an opportunity go by to make note of specialized information and her professional relationship with the victim, she has a key to the back elevator and manages to get by security where finds a problem with the corpse. The industry leader is well known for her startling blue eyes, but this corpse's eyes are brown.

Every time Maxi tries to pull back from the case, or her boss tells her to back off, something else happens to pull her back in. With a less-than-devastated husband, the husband's assistant/mistress, the future business partner, and the pharmacist with a new formula - suspects all - Maxi has a scenario to fit each one as the possible killer. When the victim's secretary is attacked, and Maxi begins getting threatening phone calls, the case gets hotter and Maxi finds herself caught in the middle again.

This is the second entry in the Maxi Poole series by television journalist Kelly Lange, and it is as much fun as the first. Laugh-out-loud funny, Maxi will grab your attention have you wishing you were a mouse in her pocket. The "inside scoop" into the business of the nightly news is worth the price of the book. Maxi and her zany adventures are the frosting on the cake. The denouement requires some suspension of disbelief, but Lange's writing style makes it worth it for me, just to see what Maxi can get into next - a great summer beach read!

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Webspinner - RAM

Book Review: Dead File