The Case of the '61 Chevy Impala

Poet Meschery (Over the Rim) makes his fiction debut with an outstanding series launch. It's 1968, and business has been slow for Brovelli Brothers Used Cars in Oakland, Calif. Owners Vincent and Victor Brovelli, identical twins, cut their losses when they can by repossessing cars from deadbeats. One repeat offender is Sweets Monroe, a candy-munching scoundrel who saved the twins' father, Pop, from a street gang, so they keep cutting him slack-until they find the body of Sweets's ex-girlfriend in the trunk of his repo'ed Impala. Sweets swears he didn't kill her. The twins are skeptical, but Pop, for whom honor is everything, coerces them into proving Sweets's innocence. Vincent is married, so Victor, lover of women, fast cars, and classic literature, buys a book on how to be a detective and takes on the investigation. As Victor hunts for a killer and tangles with the Mafia, biker gangs, Black Panthers, and crooked cops, he learns the line between good and evil isn't as plain as he thought. The times are changing, and so is Victor. Meschery offers a breathless adventure full of tension, humor, pathos, and heart. Readers will early await the sequel. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly