Synopses & Reviews
Naked corpses are found on a rental houseboat. Theres a Hollywood connection, a drug ring connection, a crooked cop among the investigators, and a killer hiding where no one would look. It could be an unsolvable crimeuntil an alcoholic ex-deputy and his son join the huntand the hunted. Not your garden-variety detective story.Clark Kent, Daily Planet An unpredictable, compelling read for mystery fans. The inclusion of an upscale high school and its denizens provides a fresh and welcome change from the ghettos and drug dens weve come to expect.Hazings Review Grippingplausibleskillfully structuredeminently satisfying.Tinseltown Times Take a deceptive killer with a flawless plan, add one guilt-ridden has-been detective, a ruthless drug lord, a cop on the take, and some self-absorbed teenagers. You get a thoroughly entertaining, suspenseful yarn that sucks you in like a shop vac.Stephanie Plump, Criminologist An unusual detective novel blends genres and clichs to create a suspenseful, likeable story. Wagner embeds a Hardy Boys-esque teen mystery within the more complex frame of a seaside mystery a la Carl Hiaasen or John D. MacDonald, but he doesn't fully embrace either genrean unusual literary tactic that works surprisingly well. While The Houseboat Murders could have been a pass, after-school special blown out to Hollywood proportions, the odd turn of events hidden within the straightforward structure rescues it from mediocrity. A for effort, with bonus points for originality -Kirkus Discoveries
Synopsis
Naked corpses are found on a rental houseboat. There's a Hollywood connection, a drug ring connection, a crooked cop among the investigators, and a killer hiding where no one would look. It could be an unsolvable crime-until an alcoholic ex-deputy and his son join the hunt.and the hunted. 'Not your garden-variety detective story."-Clark Kent, "Daily Planet" 'An unpredictable, compelling read for mystery fans. The inclusion of an upscale high school and its denizens provides a fresh and welcome change from the ghettos and drug dens we've come to expect."-"Hazings Review" 'Gripping.plausible.skillfully structured.eminently satisfying."-"Tinseltown Times" 'Take a deceptive killer with a flawless plan, add one guilt-ridden has-been detective, a ruthless drug lord, a cop on the take, and some self-absorbed teenagers. You get a thoroughly entertaining, suspenseful yarn that sucks you in like a shop vac'."-Stephanie Plump, Criminologist