MYSTERY

The Red Chameleon

by Erica Wright
Pegasus Crime. Jun. 2014. 256p. ISBN 9781605985688. $25.95; ebk. ISBN 9781605985985. M
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Meet Kathleen Stone, an ex-NYPD officer who is now a private investigator and a mistress of disguises (with the help of the best wigmaker in NYC). Her latest case involves trailing her client's possibly cheating husband. Stone follows him into a bar where he is killed in the men's room. Her suspicions are raised when the wife-turned-widow pays off Stone's contract with a nice bonus attached. As Stone continues to follow clues and work with her former police friends, she fears that her history as an undercover cop may be interfering with her present investigation.
VERDICT Wright's debut novel offers a promising start to a hard-boiled series featuring an idiosyncratic female PI whose quirkiness will appeal to fans of Linda Barnes or Karen Kijewski. While the action is sometimes slowed down by excessively repeated wig details, the author gives tantalizing glimpses into Stone's undercover career that one hopes will be developed more to help further explain some of her unusual behaviors. The supporting characters are also well developed and absorbing.
Reviewed by Frances Thorsen, Chronicles of Crime Bookshop, Victoria, BC , May 01, 2014
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