Deadly Turn: A Deacon Bishop Mystery

If he hadn't turned into the rest stop for a nature call, Deacon Bishop never would have heard about the hundred million dollars--or gotten involved with his favorite Mafia family, the Portellos. But he did make the stop--and gave a lift to the woman who claimed to be a Fed, claimed to simply need a ride into town, claimed she was in no danger. When a sideswipe drove Bishop's car off the road a few miles later, leaving him injured, his car exploded, and the woman, Helen Martinis dead, with gunshots from Bishop's gun through her head, Bishop was involved. He could have done without the dead woman and the injuries, but a hundred million dollars is worth a bit of grief, and the private investigation business doesn't often turn up that kind of money.

Bishop's search for the truth and the loot puts him into contact with the Portello family--including the beautiful Rita, who's spent a lot of time trying to get her hands on that hundred million dollars. But Helen is only one of the dead bodies Bishop encounters--it seems that everyone involved with the heist of the cash stolen from the Chicago mob is ending up dead. When Rita vanishes, apparently the next victim, Rita's dangerous brother Sal gives Bishop an ultimatum--find Rita, alive, or Bishop dies, too.

Bishop has to play a dangerous game. Pretending he has a line on the money is the only way to keep Rita alive, but pretending to have the money makes him a huge target--and just about all the gangsters in Austin, Texas, come gunning for him.

Author Michael Paulson delivers another hard-hitting hard-boiled mystery featuring aging but still tough private detective Deacon Bishop. Those who've been following this series will definitely enjoy the way Bishop's relationship with Rita Portello unfolds (and get a chuckle from the way Bishop misses some obvious clues there). Although part of a series, enjoying DEADLY TURN doesn't depend on reading the earlier novels first.