Honestly Dearest, You're Dead Jack Fredrickson Minotaur Jan 09

Vlodek Elstrom, Dek, to almost everyone, and his pal Leo Brumsky, are at work on his castle tower repairing a window, when he gets a call from a lawyer. It seems he's made executor to a will. What's unusual is that Dek doesn't know the person he's executing the estate for. But, it's quick money, something Dek doesn't have a lot of, so he sets off for Michigan to do a job he thinks will take a couple of days at most.

That of course is where he's wrong. Louise Thomas's cabin has the look of a burglary gone bad. Louise must have died going through a window trying to escape. Dek, does his job and takes the one thing of interest, a typewriter, back home with him to Rivertown, Illinois. When Dek finds a hidden key and who Louise Thomas really was the story really takes off.

Honestly Dearest, You're Dead is Jack Fredrickson's second Dek Elstrom novel. Like A Safe Place For Dying it's a fine read. Dek Elstrom is a guy you'd want in your corner. This isn't a tough guy P.I novel but it has it's tension throughout. It isn't a cozy either and those readers who don't want a lot of violence in their novels should be readily pleased that the bodies pile up off screen as it were. Honestly Dearest, you won't regret picking up Honestly Dearest, You're Dead.

Dave Biemann