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82 Desire (Skip Langdon # 8)
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82 Desire is the eighth book in the Skip Langdon Series by Edgar Award winning author Julie Smith.
"The wealth of crimes and misdemeanors—not to mention the…range of viewpoints—give the case a Dickensian richness familiar to fans of Smith’s ambitiously plotted series." -Kirkus Reviews
"Excellent entertainment... 82 Desire is fresh and fast paced, gently funny and often touching. In it, Skip Langdon and her creator, Julie Smith, are at their peak” —New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Smith's strengths are her incredible and sometimes outrageous characters and her snappy dialogue. To read Wallis's poem on how her mother named her Urethra is worth the price of the book. Obviously, she had her name changed. Very funny stuff." —San Francisco Examiner
A wife’s worst nightmare...
At the airport, the husband says, “I’ll get the car, dear. You wait with the bags.” And she waits till doomsday. Turns out the car’s still there. But hubby’s not.
It seems Councilwoman Bebe Fortier has misplaced her equally prominent husband, United Oil V-P Russell Fortier. Across town, part-time detective/poet Talba Wallis has a simple wish--to find out what Russell Fortier's disappearance has to do with her. But the private investigator who hired her to spy on Fortier can't help her out. He's lying in his office with a bullet in his chest. Reporter Jane Storey is walking down the same mean, sultry street--she's on the brink of the biggest story of her life. But she's got a bad feeling she's being played like a deck of cards by a tipster with a malevolent agenda.
Now Orleans Police Detective Skip Langdon soon senses something big starting to unfold, something a lot bigger than a missing husband. Something rooted in corruption, resulting in violence--and motivated by that old demon . . . desire.
"… engaging characters and a genuinely baffling mystery ... [Smith] succeeds admirably. The novel is intricately constructed, and while Smith keeps nothing important unfairly hidden from her readers, she manages to spring some nice little surprises. Readers who enjoy trying to solve the mystery before the writer reveals the solution will have a great time here. The popularity of the Skip Langdon series stands only to be increased with the appearance of this latest installment." —Booklist
“Talba is one of Smith's best creations ever.... Smith takes risks in this book, and they pay off ... [She] excels at writing across cultures, creating believable black and white characters who live side by side in the sometimes strained environment of contemporary New Orleans “-New Orleans Times-Picayune
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