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Paid in Full |
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 Paid in Full byD.C. Brod Five Star Press 262 pages, August 2000 ISBN 0786226730 Reviewed by Susan McBride Read our author interview He’s back! Quint McCauley, the private eye from the tiny Chicago burb of Foxport with a penchant for baseball anachronisms, has returned after an absence that’s been overlong for fans of D.C. Brod. Though Walker & Company had originally published this series, it has now been picked up by Five Star, a small press best known for its hardcover reprints of crime fiction and Paid in Full makes up for all that lost time. As usual, Quint is tangled up in relationships that don’t last, his latest being the nice enough Elaine who’s now moved in with the former Foxport police chief Ed Carver. Since Ed’s allergic to cats, Elaine’s feline ends up rooming with Quint and his dog Peanut. So that things aren’t too cozy for comfort, there’s a wrench thrown into the engine by Ed’s ex-wife Ellie, who’s holding out on signing the divorce papers. What’s all this got to do with Quint? Nothing until a former client, a wealthy investment advisor named Kurt Wicklow, apparently skips town, owing Quint some money for a job. Ellie Carver asks Quint to track down the missing Wicklow. She claims they were lovers, meeting for years under everyone’s noses, only he didn’t show for their last rendezvous. Gina Wicklow can’t account for her husband’s whereabouts either, so Quint goes up to Wicklow’s lake cabin only to find blood on the floor and a bullet hole in the wall. There’d been rumors about Wicklow secretly taking funds from his clients’ accounts. Had an angry investor done away with him? Then when Ellie Carver turns up dead and Ed is accused, Quint knows he can’t let go of this one until he’s figured it out. Paid in Full takes the reader in Quint McCauley’s shoes as he puts together the pieces of a puzzle with as many layers as an Eskimo’s winter wardrobe. At first everything seems simple, but there are twists and turns enough to keep one guessing, until Quint’s probing ties it all up snugly in the end. Beyond an interesting plot, there’s just good solid writing. Brod is so skillful and smooth with her prose that the story is never interrupted by awkward phrases or stilted dialogue. For those who enjoy a traditional whodunit that plays mind games and never leaves you completely sure of your footing, put Paid in Full on your account and charge it. |
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