P. I. on a Hot Tin Roof: A Talba Wallis Novel by Julie Smith

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Synopsis

When PI Talba Wallis gets a frantic phone call from Orleans Parish Prison, the last person she expects to hear from is her boss's lawyer daughter, Angie. Popped for drug possession, Angie insists the drugs were planted. She's a target for representing a neighborhood group protesting the illegal commercial use of a marina by its owner, Judge Buddy Champagne. According to Angie, the judge is dirty---and he's the one who had her set up.

Talba and her boss, Eddie, are outraged---knowing Angie as they do, they pull out all the stops for her. And when Talba goes undercover as a housekeeper for Judge Champagne, she finds a household straight out of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with the judge playing Big Daddy. The weak son and the hot daughter-in-law are in residence, being "between jobs." Big Mama's absent, though---she died some time ago, and the judge is now adding his fiancée to the mix. That would be Miss Kristin LaGarde, an impossibly lovely, and possibly innocent, young lady who seems hopelessly in love with the old coot.

Talba dredges up lots of interesting material; such as that someone was accidentally electrocuted at the marina and that the judge is in bed with certain bail bondsmen. She finds evidence of bribes and kickbacks. He's dirty all right.

When the story breaks and the scandal deepens, Judge Champagne winds up dead. And, to her surprise, Talba is asked to investigate. Did politics kill the judge? Or was it his own family?

Publishers Weekly

The spirit of Tennessee Williams's Big Daddy hovers over Smith's winning fourth Talba Wallis mystery (after 2004's Louisiana Lament), in which the hip African-American PI goes undercover as a maid to investigate a shady New Orleans judge, Francis Champagne (aka "Daddy Buddy"). Armed with housecleaning lessons from her mama, Miz Clara, and her righteous detecting skills, Talba discovers more than she bargained for in Buddy's mansion. Besides providing an absorbing portrait of the decline of the Louisiana shrimping industry, Smith does a wonderful job exploring Buddy's family menagerie: Royce, his alcoholic son; Lucy, his depressed teen daughter; and his weary mother, Adele Reedy, who tries to provide Lucy the much-needed nurturing Buddy would rather lavish on Kristin LaGarde, a wealthy young businesswoman. A Mardi Gras party celebrating Buddy's engagement to Kristin leads to the exposure of his crooked shenanigans-and of Talba's true identity. When Buddy turns up dead, Kristen hires Talba to find the murderer. This spicy gumbo of steamy mystery, saucy humor and piquant social commentary should appeal to discriminating crime fans. Agent, Vicky Bijur. (July 27) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Biography

In addition to the Talba Wallis series, JULIE SMITH is also the author of the Skip Langdon mystery series and the Rebecca Schwartz series. Her first Skip Langdon book, New Orleans Mourning, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel.

A former reporter, she lives in New Orleans most of the time.