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Lomax & Biggs #3
Flipping Out
Someone is making a real killing on the housing market - Bestselling mystery author Nora Bannister has found herself a very lucrative sideline. Along with a group of female friends, she buys a run-down house in Los Angeles, and while her business partners turn it into a show home, Nora makes it the scene of a grisly murder in her latest bestseller. It seems people are only too happy to live in a house where someone has died a violent death - in fiction, at least. But, much to the horror of Nora and her pals, a series of real murders start taking place - Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs have to track down the killer before he murders his next logical target - Marilyn, Terry's wife.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
357 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Marshall Karp
40 books616 followersMarshall Karp is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a TV and screenwriter, documentarian, and playwright. Working with James Patterson, Marshall cocreated and cowrote the NYPD Red series. After six bestsellers, Marshall has carried the series forward on his own, beginning with NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority. Marshall is also the author of Snowstorm in August, as well as the critically acclaimed Lomax and Biggs novels, featuring LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs. For over twenty years he has worked closely with the international charity Vitamin Angels, providing tens of millions of mothers and children around the globe with lifesaving vitamins and nutrients.
For more information, visit www.karpkills.com.
For more information, visit www.karpkills.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
March 9, 2023
Continuing my binge of Marshall Karp’s LAPD police procedural series, I continue to be impressed with the books and how easy they are to digest. Karp provides the reader with a solid foundation and uses key events to push the story along. With well-developed characters and wonderful banter, Karp offers the reader something well worth their time when needing something a little lighter.
There is no doubt that LAPD personnel keep busy schedules, leaving their families to wonder about them and bide their time. A number of LAPD wives decided not to wait idly by and created the LA Flippers, a group dedicated to buying houses, having them renovated, and selling the end results for massive profits. In the middle of it is Nora Bannister, a bestselling novelist who uses her abilities to create the ‘Houses to Die For” series. After each book launches, a house of similar description hits the market, leaving investors laughing all the way to the bank.
When one of the investors is found murdered, LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs are assigned the case, trying to find out who killed one of the larger police family. Digging into the victim’s life, some secrets turn up and leave more questions than answers. Could the Flippers be involved in something a little more nefarious?
As members of the LA Flippers are murdered, one by one, Lomax and Biggs up their investigative attention, trying to crack the case open, but come up short. Could it be an illegal worker with a vendetta? Someone who is not happy with the real estate market? Or perhaps someone trying to target cops through their families? When Marilyn Biggs, Terry’s wife, becomes the next logical target, the protection detail is increased and the case takes on a life of its own. Lomax and Biggs will stop at nothing to stop a killer, while the brass and mayor’s office are calling for heads while the media hot potato is tossed around. If anyone can solve the case, it’s Lomax and Biggs, but they are surely running out of time. Karp does well with this one yet again, keeping the reader in the middle of a great crime thriller.
Marshall Karp continues to impress, offering up another great novel in the series. Karp provides a grounded narrative to direct the reader through the crimes and how the protagonists seek to solve them. Mike Lomax appears to be the central protagonist once more, leaving me to believe that this will not change for the next two novels in the collection. As before there are some strong secondary characters who advance the story or flavour the narrative with needed banter. As always things are not linear, providing the reader with some necessary plot twists to keep things moving in a forward direction. While not a ‘deep’ read,these are surely great novels to pass the time and I am eager to sink my teeth into the next piece.
Kudos, Mr. Karp, for another great novel that left me highly impressed.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
There is no doubt that LAPD personnel keep busy schedules, leaving their families to wonder about them and bide their time. A number of LAPD wives decided not to wait idly by and created the LA Flippers, a group dedicated to buying houses, having them renovated, and selling the end results for massive profits. In the middle of it is Nora Bannister, a bestselling novelist who uses her abilities to create the ‘Houses to Die For” series. After each book launches, a house of similar description hits the market, leaving investors laughing all the way to the bank.
When one of the investors is found murdered, LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs are assigned the case, trying to find out who killed one of the larger police family. Digging into the victim’s life, some secrets turn up and leave more questions than answers. Could the Flippers be involved in something a little more nefarious?
As members of the LA Flippers are murdered, one by one, Lomax and Biggs up their investigative attention, trying to crack the case open, but come up short. Could it be an illegal worker with a vendetta? Someone who is not happy with the real estate market? Or perhaps someone trying to target cops through their families? When Marilyn Biggs, Terry’s wife, becomes the next logical target, the protection detail is increased and the case takes on a life of its own. Lomax and Biggs will stop at nothing to stop a killer, while the brass and mayor’s office are calling for heads while the media hot potato is tossed around. If anyone can solve the case, it’s Lomax and Biggs, but they are surely running out of time. Karp does well with this one yet again, keeping the reader in the middle of a great crime thriller.
Marshall Karp continues to impress, offering up another great novel in the series. Karp provides a grounded narrative to direct the reader through the crimes and how the protagonists seek to solve them. Mike Lomax appears to be the central protagonist once more, leaving me to believe that this will not change for the next two novels in the collection. As before there are some strong secondary characters who advance the story or flavour the narrative with needed banter. As always things are not linear, providing the reader with some necessary plot twists to keep things moving in a forward direction. While not a ‘deep’ read,these are surely great novels to pass the time and I am eager to sink my teeth into the next piece.
Kudos, Mr. Karp, for another great novel that left me highly impressed.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
October 6, 2015
I loved this book. I ran out of books to read on a cruise so I went to the ships library and found this with the recommendations that if I love Janet Evanovich, I'll love this. And I did. Even more than Janet Evanovich. After I started reading, I found out it was the third in a series (I hate reading out of order) and now that I'm finished, I'm determined the read the others.
The comedy between Biggs and Lomax is actually funny and the storyline had enough red herrings to keep you guessing and keep you interested. The characters were believable with a good mix of likeable and unlikeable. I'm really looking forward to reading more by this author.
The comedy between Biggs and Lomax is actually funny and the storyline had enough red herrings to keep you guessing and keep you interested. The characters were believable with a good mix of likeable and unlikeable. I'm really looking forward to reading more by this author.
September 29, 2021
This series hasn't disappointed me yet.
August 11, 2025
Lobe Lomax and Biggs
Also love Marshall Karp's writing. His characters are well developed and fun. Not a word I would have thought to use about homicide detectives, but in this case... Karp also manages to keep some surprises for the end. On top the next book in the series.
Also love Marshall Karp's writing. His characters are well developed and fun. Not a word I would have thought to use about homicide detectives, but in this case... Karp also manages to keep some surprises for the end. On top the next book in the series.
April 26, 2010
Terry Biggs and four other of his fellow detectives were out on Reggie Drabyak’s fishing boat. They were enjoying a guys day out. This would be the last time any of the guys would be spending together, just having fun for a while.
The next day, Terry and his partner were heading into the station. Their boss was waiting for them. Reggie Drabyak’s wife, Jo was murdered. Why would anyone want to murder sweet Jo? Jo worked as an events planner. Things start to get stranger, when another woman is murdered. There seems to by a connection…one both women were cop’s wives and two; the women were murdered in “flip homes”.
Famous mystery author, Nora Bannister also purchases abandoned homes, renovates them and then turns around and sells them for a profit. This is called flipping homes. It is not uncommon to have someone die in one of Nora’s flip homes. Usually, though the people dying are fictional characters in her books.
Flipping Out is the latest Lomax and Biggs novel by author, Marshall Karp. It also just happens to be the first book I have read by this author. This book is a barrel of laughs and hijinx. Lomax and Biggs are kind of like the Odd Couple…they just work together. Flipping Out is a fun, light-hearted, cozy mystery novel. There were twists and turns around every corner. Both Lomax and Biggs are very good at their job. Mr. Karp did a very good job with this book. The plot was very well thought out. I enjoyed it. I plan to go back and read all the prior Lomax and Biggs novels.
The next day, Terry and his partner were heading into the station. Their boss was waiting for them. Reggie Drabyak’s wife, Jo was murdered. Why would anyone want to murder sweet Jo? Jo worked as an events planner. Things start to get stranger, when another woman is murdered. There seems to by a connection…one both women were cop’s wives and two; the women were murdered in “flip homes”.
Famous mystery author, Nora Bannister also purchases abandoned homes, renovates them and then turns around and sells them for a profit. This is called flipping homes. It is not uncommon to have someone die in one of Nora’s flip homes. Usually, though the people dying are fictional characters in her books.
Flipping Out is the latest Lomax and Biggs novel by author, Marshall Karp. It also just happens to be the first book I have read by this author. This book is a barrel of laughs and hijinx. Lomax and Biggs are kind of like the Odd Couple…they just work together. Flipping Out is a fun, light-hearted, cozy mystery novel. There were twists and turns around every corner. Both Lomax and Biggs are very good at their job. Mr. Karp did a very good job with this book. The plot was very well thought out. I enjoyed it. I plan to go back and read all the prior Lomax and Biggs novels.
May 28, 2016
A fairly flawed mystery. At the end the author acknowledges all the people who helped him "get the details right," but there are several glaring inaccuracies -- relating to such things as immigration and tax law -- and they make the whole thing feel sloppy. I was also not terribly convinced by the motives of the killer(s). This was my first Biggs & Lomax book, and it will probably be my last.
August 4, 2017
Too many characters - kept forgetting who was who - slightly fascile - though "pop, bam, bam, bam, pop, pop" was very clever . . .
November 30, 2023
I guessed the murderer on page 156, but it was really interesting to find out the motive and how it was brought up to the perpetrator.
I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
September 19, 2017
Biggs and Lomax are fast talking detectives in LA who know each other's riffs and use them to perfection....
They get involved with the murder of a colleague's wife...then another. Then another. All the wives are involved in a clever venture involving a best-selling author who buys a fixer-upper, flips it, uses it as the setting of her latest murder mystery and then sits back and sells the house and lots of books.
But something is going wrong...the partners, all cop wives, are being murdered, execution-style. And Biggs' wife may be targeted.
Clever plotting, where we THINK the murders are solved, only to discover a bigger mystery, even more evil in plan. I was confused when it looked like everything was finished, and I had three more hours of the audible to go.
I didn't realize I plopped myself into the middle of a series, but I never felt lost...Karp did a great job of enfolding me into this world without all the clunky "Now as we remember from the last book" exposition.
Narration was fantastic...book was fun. I'll be visiting again.
They get involved with the murder of a colleague's wife...then another. Then another. All the wives are involved in a clever venture involving a best-selling author who buys a fixer-upper, flips it, uses it as the setting of her latest murder mystery and then sits back and sells the house and lots of books.
But something is going wrong...the partners, all cop wives, are being murdered, execution-style. And Biggs' wife may be targeted.
Clever plotting, where we THINK the murders are solved, only to discover a bigger mystery, even more evil in plan. I was confused when it looked like everything was finished, and I had three more hours of the audible to go.
I didn't realize I plopped myself into the middle of a series, but I never felt lost...Karp did a great job of enfolding me into this world without all the clunky "Now as we remember from the last book" exposition.
Narration was fantastic...book was fun. I'll be visiting again.
April 3, 2022
3.5 stars
I found this pretty entertaining. A comedic police procedural with a decent mystery that became more mystifying as the book went on. The solution was perhaps a familiar mystery trope, but it was fair and not predictable, so it worked as a mystery.
My main issue was that the characters have a strange failure of tone. The murders involve their detective colleagues and spouses, and yet there is no sense of the personal tragedy that must have pervaded this close-knit group. Murder is not funny, and the comedy-mystery is a fantasy; readers understand that. But when the people murdered are close friends, surely this would reduce the joking and snarky comments during in the investigation. It's not an insuperable problem for enjoying the book, but I found it a false element that distracted me.
Nonetheless, I'm going to look up the other books in this series. This would be good airport reading or entertainment when you don't want to use too much of your mind.
I found this pretty entertaining. A comedic police procedural with a decent mystery that became more mystifying as the book went on. The solution was perhaps a familiar mystery trope, but it was fair and not predictable, so it worked as a mystery.
My main issue was that the characters have a strange failure of tone. The murders involve their detective colleagues and spouses, and yet there is no sense of the personal tragedy that must have pervaded this close-knit group. Murder is not funny, and the comedy-mystery is a fantasy; readers understand that. But when the people murdered are close friends, surely this would reduce the joking and snarky comments during in the investigation. It's not an insuperable problem for enjoying the book, but I found it a false element that distracted me.
Nonetheless, I'm going to look up the other books in this series. This would be good airport reading or entertainment when you don't want to use too much of your mind.
December 10, 2020
Marshall Karp works with James Patterson on various series but the Lomax & Biggs books are all his own. And they are very good. The plots are compelling, as the two L.A. detectives try to figure out what starts as a bizarre murder and turns into a serial string of bizarre murders. Lomax is the straight man, Biggs the comedian, and the banter is authentic and witty. The bit players, the bad guys, and even the victims are vividly drawn—if you’re a fan of Hiaasen quirky villains you’ll enjoy the cast. All in all an excellent read—read them all.
Flipping Out - The mystery gets personal for Lomax and Biggs as Biggs' wife is threatened by a killer over some real-estate shenanigans. Not as compelling a mystery as the first two books of the series, but still worth reading in order. Story 4, Craft 5, Humor 4.
Flipping Out - The mystery gets personal for Lomax and Biggs as Biggs' wife is threatened by a killer over some real-estate shenanigans. Not as compelling a mystery as the first two books of the series, but still worth reading in order. Story 4, Craft 5, Humor 4.
October 30, 2021
Interesting book about a famous author who buys rundown houses in L. A. and writes murder mysteries involving the house. In the meantime, her "flippers" rehab the house and they sell it at an amazing price due to the notoriety of the book. During a subsequent rehab, one of her flippers, who happens to be the wife of an LAPD Detective, is murdered. Detectives Lomax and Biggs are assigned the case and the "fun" begins.
July 9, 2022
Read this one after reading Snowstorm in August (also by the author). This one is part of a series about 2 detectives, Lomax and Biggs.......who, frankly, I could not really tell apart.
The story is the murders of cop's wives, who all have one thing in common--they are all in a business flipping houses. Turns out the story is deeper, involving corrupt cops, illegal organ transfers and corrupt doctors.
Doubt I will bother with any others in the Lomax and Biggs series
The story is the murders of cop's wives, who all have one thing in common--they are all in a business flipping houses. Turns out the story is deeper, involving corrupt cops, illegal organ transfers and corrupt doctors.
Doubt I will bother with any others in the Lomax and Biggs series
May 26, 2023
I like my murders with a side of laughs and this series always delivers a nice balance between the two.
Biggs & Lomax are the perfect foil partners, and following along as they solve the case was highly entertaining. Even the side characters are fleshed out and make multiple appearances, which I enjoy. Big Jim is a riot and I gasped a few times at surprising scenes during the story.
An overall unputdownable book in a witty crime series.
Biggs & Lomax are the perfect foil partners, and following along as they solve the case was highly entertaining. Even the side characters are fleshed out and make multiple appearances, which I enjoy. Big Jim is a riot and I gasped a few times at surprising scenes during the story.
An overall unputdownable book in a witty crime series.
July 16, 2025
finished 16th july 2025 good read three stars i liked it no less no more kindle library loaner have now read maybe a half dozen from karp marshall maybe two of them collaboration with patterson james have enjoyed them all entertaining stories...in this one more than a few celebrated meet their end. i have another karp marshall story open and ready to go. so...take it for whatever...better than a kick in the pants or a stick in the eye.
Read
August 17, 2019Biggs and Lomax are called into a difficult situation, the wife of another LAPD officer has been killed. And then more murders occur. It may be easily resolved after an officer kills the suspect, but perhaps not. The back drop of flipped houses and home repair add some entertainment to a decent mystery.
July 14, 2017
Finished this book today, realized I should have been giving these titles 5 stars all along. Third in the series, enjoyed all of the books so far and have already downloaded the 4th. Laugh out loud funny, great reads.
May 19, 2021
Great fun. Love the entire series. Mr. Karp please write more about Mike and Terry
And let's not forget Mike's dad, what a hoot. Again my thanks for many, many hours of true reading pleasure.
And let's not forget Mike's dad, what a hoot. Again my thanks for many, many hours of true reading pleasure.
July 4, 2024
Lomax & Biggs: what a great crime fighting duo!
This series is so good that I went ahead and bought the next book because my library doesn't have it....yet (I hope).
I am so very glad I "discovered" Marshall Karp: I'll be reading anything he writes!
This series is so good that I went ahead and bought the next book because my library doesn't have it....yet (I hope).
I am so very glad I "discovered" Marshall Karp: I'll be reading anything he writes!
November 7, 2016
This was awful. I can't quite put my finger on why – ridiculous red herrings? flat plot? unsympathetic and undeveloped character? – but I could barely bring myself to finish.
August 17, 2017
Easy reading
Lomax and Biggs are always a treat to read. Not complicated yet entertaining. Highly recommend the series for any time
Lomax and Biggs are always a treat to read. Not complicated yet entertaining. Highly recommend the series for any time
February 16, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the story, the characters, the dialogue...all of it. I also truly loved listening to it. The narrator did great voices and accents for the characters.
March 1, 2018
Second read thru
Truly enjoying Biggs and Lomax the 2nd time. There was a lot I missed the first time through that I am catching up this time.
Truly enjoying Biggs and Lomax the 2nd time. There was a lot I missed the first time through that I am catching up this time.
February 23, 2019
I am really enjoying this series. Karp has developed two strong lead characters as well as supporting roles in this cop series.
April 18, 2019
Great twist ending, funny as per usual and great pace in general. Creative dialogue and inner monologue that is conflicted and complex.
May 9, 2019
Very good.
July 26, 2019
Still a fun read with these guys, although it seemed to bog down here and there. I didn't figure out the killer much before the detectives which is a nice change.
October 30, 2019
First book that I have read from Karp and I was very pleased. Crime thriller laced with lots of humor. Plot was decent without being too complicated. Looking forward to reading more of Karp’s books.
June 15, 2020
You cannot go wrong spending some time with Lomax and Biggs!!! Great story and I laughed out loud several times. Highly recommended!!
April 4, 2023
Such great murder mysteries. The Lomax and Biggs series has hilarious characters and amazing plotlines! Twists and turns galore! So fun to read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews