Synopses & Reviews
Chicago's Pants On Fire Detective Agency targets liars and cheats. But PI Cat DeLuca is once again up to her smokin' skinny jeans in murder. Cat is out running in a neighborhood park when she crashes over the faceless body of Bernie Love. Bernie was the finance guy to the scary Provenza family, with whom he grew up. And friend to Cat's shady, Ferrari-wheeling-cop Uncle Joey. As she hauls out her phone, Cat is assaulted by someone with a Rolex, stun gun, and wheelbarrow. When the cops show up, the killer is gone. And so is the body. Captain Bob, a stickler for habeas corpus, blows off Cat's story. Stung by a chorus of snickers from the Ninth Precinct, home base for DeLuca men, Cat vows to make her case and goes after Rolex man. The murderer, desperate to silence the only person who can place him at the park, comes after Cat. She's quickly on a collision course with the deadliest adversary she's ever encountered--but she has the help of her beagle partner, her gun-happy assistant, an ex-spy (or two), and her outrageous, interfering Italian family. Meanwhile her hot, FBI-boyfriend seems sidelined in Vegas. In Bye, Bye, Love, K.J. Larsen delivers another nail-biting tale rife with unexpected plot twists, zany characters, fabulous food, and laugh-out-loud humor.
Review
Early in Larsen's lively fourth Cat DeLuca mystery (after 2013's Some Like it Hot), Cat, the owner of the Pants on Fire Detective Agency in suburban Chicago, and her dog discover a body in a local park. Tucked into the corpse's pocket is a money-filled envelope addressed to Joey DeLuca, Cat's uncle, a Ferrari-driving police officer with questionable ethics. The killer returns to the scene, shoots Cat with a Taser, and drugs her; when she awakens in the park, the body is gone. Despite warnings from the police, she investigates--while juggling family commitments. She initially appears so bumbling that her solution of the case, based on clues missed by savvy cops, seems unlikely. The loud, large DeLuca relatives are entertaining but one-dimensional supporting characters, and Cat's devotion to dogs is endearing. Still, an overabundance of chick-lit tropes and too many similarities--including a cheating ex-husband and a car bombing--to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series keep this title from standing out. Publisher's Weekly