The Lemon Chicken Jones
A Saxon Mystery (#6)
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
#6 in the Saxon mystery series. Saxon is hired to find the missing wife of an aging Borscht Belt comedian. Nappy Kane is a dinosaur, telling stale jokes about women drivers. His career is on the rocks, his bank balance is dwindling—even his agent is turning his back on him. But what broke the old comic’s heart was when his wife of less than a year disappeared—along with her clothes, her jewelry, and her new car. Saxon, hired to find her, learns that Doll Kane was a mail-order bride, chosen from a selection offered to him by a rather mysterious “agency.” Following a lead provided by a Chinese-American cabaret singer, Saxon tracks down the mail-order agency in a small town in northern California. Accompanied by his adopted son, Marvel, he finds the agency, run from a massage parlor, not only suspicious but dangerous. When he uncovers a murder, Saxon has to protect himself—and Marvel. But he’s surprised to discover that though Marvel is still a teenager, when the chips are down, he’s a good man to have around.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Southern California PI and occasional bit actor Saxon follows a trail of mail-order brides in this sixth entry (after Seeing the Elephant ) in a superior series. A washed-up comedy star hires Saxon to find his wife, a Hong Kong native named Doll whom he met through an organization called Asian Nights. Doll, to whom the comic signed over all his possessions, has disappeared and, through an uncommunicative lawyer, filed for divorce. Saxon and his black teenaged son Marvel, who was adopted in an earlier book, head north to a small town where the cops support a network that imports Asian women to live in conditions dangerously close to slavery. Doll begins to look almost fortunate, judged against the often brutal standard of life endured by most of the ``merchandise'' offered by Asian Nights. Saxon's probing irks some locals and leads to the sudden malfunction of the brakes on his Chevy. Never at a loss for female company, Saxon continues to be a glib commentator on California mores, though the vulnerabilities of parenthood prove mellowing as Marvel achieves full-fledged partnerdom in this outing. Roberts, who also writes the Cleveland-set Milan Jacovich series, plots with finesse and an admirable economy.
