The Best-Kept Secret
A Milan Jacovich Mystery
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- £6.49
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- £6.49
Publisher Description
#10 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .
"[Milan Jacovich] is a hero one can't help but like. Roberts' polished prose, inventive plots, and pleasantly low-key style add extra appeal to his long-running series." — Booklist
"Boston has Spenser. Detroit has Amos Walker. And Cleveland has Milan Jacovich." — The Plain Dealer
Everyone has secrets. But college freshman Jason Crowell is especially guarded when an anonymous feminist organization on campus publicly accuses him of date rape. Jason proclaims his innocence but has no idea who the "Women Warriors" are—or even who his supposed victim is.
Jason's former high school principal, Reginald Parker, believes in the kid. He asks private investigator Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovitch) to uncover the identities of the secret accusers. Milan would prefer to steer clear of this unpleasant case, but Reggie Parker once saved his life (see Deep Shaker), so Milan agrees to investigate. What he finds surprises him—and eventually leads to murder.
Milan tangles with Jason's rigid and unfeeling parents, a mean-spirited campus police chief, and an extremely dangerous gang of youths that wants him dead. He quickly finds himself in more trouble than he ever imagined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Signs plastered around Cleveland's Sherman College campus identify Jason Crowell as a rapist. They don't bother to identify his victim. Poor Jason is reviled, suspended from classes and desperate. His best friend is convinced of his innocence, but his belligerent father is less sure. Soon Cleveland's own Slovenian-American PI, Milan Jacovich (The Cleveland Local, etc.), joins Jason's select circle of supporters as he tries to clear the young man's name. Milan's job isn't made any easier by the discovery of heroin in Jason's bathroom, or by the sudden death of a college adviser. Is the frameup about sex or about drugs? Is it even a frame? The best-kept secret turns out to be that Jason is gay--a fact that Milan is much more willing to accept and understand than is the boy's father. Despite Roberts's enlightened intentions, he seldom manages to get beyond the roughest of stereotypes. His feminists are strident, his academics are smug and the relentlessly ethnic Milan is always moral, even when defending an accused rapist might just lose him the affections of Connie, his newest lady friend. This is a story driven more by Milan's gruff voice than by any plot surprises or psychological exploration.
