Falling Immortality by Robert Downs.
Casey Holden was a Private Investigator. His office was located in a warehouse in Norfolk, Virginia. His parents had died and left him wealthy, so money was never an object for him. He played as hard as he worked and took jobs by referral only.
Casey was sitting in his office when Felicity, the femme fatale, walked in. She said her husband died two years ago and the police had never found the murderer. She told me it was a freak thing, of course it was. Artis Farren, her husband, was at his local hangout when a guy walked in, shot him and walked back out. No one had seen anything. I could tell she was hiding something, but that usually goes without saying. She was chain smoking while she was telling me this, but all of sudden she abruptly got up and walked out without saying anything.
It had been two years and the police had gotten nowhere. I love cases that aren’t supposed to be solved, so I picked up the phone and called Ian Jackard, my best friend who is a cop. As always, he’s happy to hear from me. I had to smile to myself as I said that.
Ian called back and said it had been Greg Gilman’s case, but I could come down and see the file. Me and Greg didn’t get along so well. I punched him out once and he wouldn’t forgive me for making him look like the fool that he is.
When Ian said I had more lives than a Siamese cat, I thought it was true, it had been the same for my parents.
I was in my office going over the file, what little there was. The autopsy report was missing which immediately raised questions in my mind.
I jumped in my car and headed over to the Hotspot to see if I could find out anything about Artis’ murder. I struck out, but when I left someone was waiting to follow me. I figured Tiny Watson, who was the bar owner, had put them up to it. I knew he was doing more than just running the bar. There had been an incident 3 years ago when 2 college kids ended up in the hospital and 2 bouncers in jail. That doesn’t sound like the type of place someone like Artis would hang out at.
I was going to check out the other witnesses, shake them up and see what happens. I had a pretty loose way of running an investigation. An investigation was like a puzzle, you put it together one piece at a time. I came up with zilch. I asked Ian to do a background check on Tiny Watson.
I had run into Gilman at the station when I went to pick up the file. I just couldn’t leave well enough alone and had to pick at him. I should have known Gilman wouldn’t take our run in at the station lying down. I was pretty sure the cop had been following me around for a while before he pulled me over and took me straight to Gilman’s office. When I told him to hand over the autopsy report and I’d be gone, he told me I was messing with the wrong dead guy.
Felicity had called and wanted to meet for dinner. Maybe she was ready to give me some necessary information. She proceeded to tell me her husband was a greedy criminal in love with the almighty dollar. Even if he was a criminal, his murderer still needed to to pay. When she went to the restroom, she never came back.
I was awakened at 4am to a threatening phone call, telling me to back off or else. Or else what, was my question.
After my coffee and run, I showered and grabbed my gun on my way out the door. Best to be prepared. Something was wrong about this whole mess and I wasn’t giving up until I had the answers.
3 STARS – Would recommend to Others
Won on Goodreads First Read Giveaway. I would like to thank Robert who was gracious enough to autograph my copy. I was first attracted to the cover, red always seems to catch my eye. Then the title, Falling Immortality, how could you not want to look a little further to find out what the book is about? The blurb made me immediately think of Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I. and Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. The femme fatale genre. Light airy. Whimsical.
I love this kind of light mystery mixed with humor. Makes me laugh all the way through. I can just picture him as he walks into a world of hurt. The characters were what I expected and I was happy to visit with them.
I liked when he talked about internet surfing and Cox cable, I thought cool. I could really relate because I also surf the internet on Cox cable. How small a world is it?
2005 Dodge Viper SRT-10. Made me think of Magnum P.I. with his lackadaisical way of running his investigations and the juggling of all the luscious women all the while tooling around in a way hot car. I love cars with lots of power, who doesn’t?
Robert aspired to be a writer before he realized how difficult the writing process was. Fortunately, he’d already fallen in love with the craft, otherwise Casey might never have seen print. Originally from West Virginia, he has lived in Virginia, Massachusetts, and now resides in New Mexico. To learn more about the author or Casey, visit the author’s website: http://www.RobertDowns.net Look for Casey’s next adventure.
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Email: robert@robertdowns.net
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VROOM VROOM!! I think I would like this book. Great post Sherry!