Betting Blind
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
From the author of A Bitch Called Hope, the search for a blackmailer turns into a murder investigation for an ex-cop-turned-private-investigator.
In the rainy city of Portland, Matilda Bauer has been blackmailing her parole officer, Fulin Chen. Just when Fulin's ready to come clean, Matilda disappears. Bad news for Fulin, because once Matilda is arrested for breaking parole, she'll show the photos she has on him and end his career. Fulin turns to his longtime friend and poker buddy, Lennox Cooper, P.I., to help him find the beautiful blonde con-woman.
A former cop, Lennox knows how it feels to live and breathe the police life—and to be thrown out of it. She'll do anything to help her friend avoid a similar fate. But three days later Lennox finds Matilda dead, in what looks like a sex game gone terribly wrong. Fulin Chen is the lead suspect. Lennox's search for Matilda, however, causes her to begin turning over rocks, finding that her past lies under many of them—not to mention deadly threats. Matilda Bauer had no shortage of enemies, though, and Lennox will have to sift through the many blackmail victims and jilted lovers to find the real killer.
Praise for A Bitch Called Hope
"A well-crafted mystery novel with a heroine you can root for, plenty of action and a satisfying ending."―Phillip Margolin, New York Times–bestselling author of Capitol Murder
"A noir with heart…Beware, it's hard to put down."―Cara Black, New York Times–bestselling author of the Aimee Leduc mysteries
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Gardner's lackluster second outing for PI Lennox Cooper (after 2013's A Bitch Called Hope), Lennox who was the first woman to make detective in the Portland (Ore.) Police Bureau but left the force after a tragic shoot-out goes to the aid of her friend and potential love interest, parole officer Fulin Chen, after he's arrested for assault. When one of Fulin's parolees, Matilda Bauer, missed an appointment with him, he went in search of her and ended up being attacked by a man wielding a bat. The police don't buy Fulin's claim that he was using his kung fu moves only in self-defense. Lennox is shocked to learn that Fulin was in contact with Matilda via an online dating site, though he says that he didn't know that the woman who identified herself to him as "Lynn" was really his client. Matilda's murder raises the ante as Fulin becomes the main person of interest. Dull characters and unimpressive detecting add up to a less than memorable read.
