The Lake Effect
A Milan Jacovich Mystery
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
#5 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .
"Packed with unusual heroes, villains, and political twists and turns . . . a mystery which defies predictability." — Midwest Book Review
"A real treat . . . If you've somehow missed this series, definitely give it a try . . . If you're already a fan, this book will delight you even further." — Mystery News
"Every Jacovich adventure is better than the last, and this one is no exception. An outstanding entry in an outstanding series, and a must for every mystery collection. (Starred review)" — Booklist
"The story is nicely fleshed out with characters so vivid you could probably pick them out on the Cleveland streets: Roberts describes them so well, even an out-of-towner knows where he stands." — Publishers Weekly
Every Clevelander understands the lake effect, a weather condition that brings plenty of snow, especially in November when election time rolls around.
Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich), the genial Cleveland private eye, has never been a political animal. But he owes a favor to mobster Victor Gaimari, and Milan always pays his debts. So he agrees to play watchdog over a mayoral election in suburban Lake Erie Shores in which dowdy housewife Barbara Corns is challenging incumbent Gayton True.
Everything seems calm on the surface—until True's wife, Princess, is run down in the street just outside downtown Cleveland's Tower City. It becomes obvious that there is more at stake than the mayor's chair in a quiet suburban city hall. And when he discovers that the True campaign has employed his old nemesis, disgraced ex-cop Al Drago, who carries a grudge a mile wide, Milan knows he's in for a lot rougher time of it than simply poll-watching.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Although Cleveland PI Milan Jacovich, last seen in The Cleveland Connection, comes up against murder, violence, the mob, devious electioneering, a burgeoning love affair and even some timorous pedophilia, his new case is as flat as a Midwest cornfield. Jacovich returns a favor he owes to Victor Gaimari, stockbroker and scion of the Ohio mafia, and agrees to act as security chief for a woman running for mayor in a small exurban town. Candidate Barbara Corns, wife of a legitimate Gaimari client, is bashful, inept and going nowhere in her race against veteran incumbent Gayton True. Although True has a few skeletons in his closet (wifebeating, a kiddie-porn dealer brother-in-law), Barbara's campaign/manager husband (``I call all the shots'') refuses to use them. The hit-and-run death of True's wife, hidden plans for a gambling casino, Gaimari's secret backing of True and a would-be producer of kiddie-porn spark up the action only a little. Jacovich waxes nasty about the last but he's only in a four-cylinder dudgeon. We do learn the difference between ``kielbasi'' and ``klobasa''-Serbian and Slovenian words for the same spicy sausage-but even so, there's much sameness here.
