Set-Up

Delilah West #4

by Maxine O'Callaghan

After private investigator Delilah West goes undercover in the Orange County supervisor's office to find an embezzler, the guilty employee soon turns up dead, and the alleged murderer, a Los Angeles councilwoman, hires West to prove her innocence.

Genres: Mystery, Suspense

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1999.

Aka Marissa Owens

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set-up by Maxine O'Callaghan is 2015 Brash Books publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


Although Maxine O'Callaghan has written a string of mystery novels, they were published back in the early to mid- nineties, and they were off my radar at that point, so it wasn't until Brash Books began reissuing these books in digital format that I discovered this author and the Delilah West mysteries, which is one more reason why I love electronic books and e-readers.

In this fourth Delilah West mystery, we find our heroine doing much better, building a clientele and making a little money which has her living a more stable life. However, she is also quite aware that she has been receiving a little help from someone and that it's time to put a stop to it and stand on her own merits now.

But, life gets shaky in a hurry when Delilah falls victim to a set - up that eventually leads to murder. While the prime suspect certainly looks guilty, Delilah is positive she's innocent and sets out to find the real murderer.


I really like Delilah and if you are a fan of the Sue Grafton alphabet series, you will most likely find these books appealing. Told in first person, we are privy to all of Delilah's crime solving thoughts, her musings on her personal life, and are treated to her self deprecating humor, wit, and humanity. Despite the tough outer shell she presents, she's really a nice, caring person with human foibles and desires, and is someone I couldn't help but cheer for.

The story is pretty basic, and the plot is not really all that original, by today's standards, but there were some pretty tense and suspenseful moments along the way.

On a more personal note, Delilah's private life is still up in the air as far as romance is concerned and I'm hoping something will come from her relationship with Eric, who seems plenty contrite and is perhaps worthy of a chance.

One thing to keep in mind is the time frame these stories were written in. Although there was a brief cell phone reference, something that made me wonder if perhaps this was thrown in the digital version as an afterthought, in an attempt to modernize the story a little, because I'm thinking only a few people had cell phones in the early nineties. If that was indeed the case, it would have been better to have left that out, because it stuck out like a sore thumb. No internet, answering machines, and several other huge clues, make it obvious this book is not set in present day.

However, I thought the nostalgia was part of the story's charm, and rather liked the old school detective skills, which did not rely on computers and smart phones to do all the work.


This is a short read, well plotted and written, nice steady pacing, and a pretty solid mystery, despite it's ordinary storyline, and the action/suspense elements more than make up for anything lacking in that area. I enjoyed this whodunit and recommend it to anyone that likes reading mysteries.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Delilah West book I've read. It has great characters and lots of action, some a little violent. Delilah is a private detective at odds with the local police. She is hired to find an embezzler and sets off a series of events that put several city council members, herself and her staff in dire jeopardy. Fast paced, this is a good read for the mystery fan.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a little while to get into this book, partly because the author frequently alludes to things that obviously happened to Delilah in previous books leaving me the reader feeling that I am definitely missing things. Also, the emphasis on the description of clothes initially grated. But the more I read the deeper I got into the story and more engaged I got with Delilah.

If you are trying to decide whether to read this book, I recommend that you go back and read the prior three first. I'm going to go look for them.

I did decide that this book and this series are keepers.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. Plot was twisty. Liked PI okay.

[Lilian Flesher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delilah West is a strong character, a Private Investigator who is 36years old, divorced and currently single (her boyfriend seems to be unavailable). I loved the strength in this character and at times I chuckled through the story, especially when during a stake-out she was busting for a pee, I could feel for her sitting cross-legged trying to decide whether to blow the stake-out and run to the loo, I could literally feel her discomfort.

This is a re-release of an old story, which is well worth the read, but remember it's in a time before all the gadgets we have around now, so things are done differently, although they do have things like Letter Bombs to add some excitement, come on that would just about freak anyone out, this could be a new client for Delilah. So we have thefts, bombings, even a murder thrown into the mix to keep the tempo going at an exceeding good pace.

Most PI's follow clues to find the perp, but Delilah tends to work more like a profiler in my opinion, she watches, listens to the people involved in the case, how they speak to each other, how they speak to their spouses, she watches the body language, interprets the way they operate their businesses and life, and slowly she builds up the picture of her SUSPECT.

You will enjoy how this lady operates, it's like a breath of fresh air to be honest.

I received a copy of this story from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[HornFan2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to netgalley.com, Maxine O'Callaghan and Brash Books for the advance copy for my review.

Totally enjoyed this one, even though it was easy to figure out who the bad guy was and pretty clever how she basically hid the murderer in plain sight. Oh she gave a few clues, once I finished it I realized it, just made her story so much better ending wise and really liked Maxine's writing style.

RBP's Spenser and Magnum PI TV Show, got me hooked reading PI books and Delilah West would have fit right in with both. It would be oh so priceless Magnum riding shotgun in an Astro van, with Delilah.

I did like the Delilah character, she's strong, witty, oh so human, seems to have a knack to get caught in awkward situations and never seems to have her .38 handy, when she really needs it. Got a good laugh out of Delilah's ride being a Chevrolet Astro van. I also liked Danny, Harry and the other characters around her.

Absolutely loved that this was chocked full of important details, twists and turns, multiply storylines and no fluff, just to add extra needless reading.

The Set-Up was originally released in 1991, absolutely love that were seeing out of print, hard to find series being released as ebooks and being made available again.

Definitely a worthy author and series to check out.

[Paul Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

First and foremost, this is not a new novel, rather a reissue; originally written in 1991, there’s a few anachronisms that let you know you’re not in the present anymore. The PI does have a cell phone, though; hard to remember when those things first came around.
The only thing special here is that there aren’t any more murders, though some came close. The female PI drives around Orange County in her van looking for the killer of a woman she put in jail, putting her friends and assistants in harm’s way throughout. A lot of the peripheral characters no doubt appeared in previous books, which makes it difficult at times. As expected, there’s plenty of red herrings until she gets caught and almost killed, so that she doesn’t actually solve the case as much as luck out in not also dying at the hands of the killer.
A serviceable story, but really no big deal.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1991. Since I was reading mystery/thrillers at that time, I don't know how I missed this author. But I'm glad I finally found her; she is a really good writer. I loved this book so much that I have already purchased the first books of the series. I like that the author makes Delilah West a strong woman character. The plot was well written, the characters well developed. There is enough action and suspense to keep you interested and I didn't find any slow spots. I truly enjoyed the whole book and can't wait to start her other books, this time from the beginning of the series.
I received this free book from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Arlene Arredondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character in this book, Delilah West, is an intelligent struggling private detective which is bound by a new client by coincidences that can only be sorted out by skills and courage, since the book is set in an era not so far away but that seems so distant now with all the technology available. Couldn’t put it down till I finished reading and found out who really was the bad guy. Praise to Maxine O'Callaghan for a great story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Brash Books for permitting me to read this book free.

[Trina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this arc from Netgalley.

Well, from the description I thought it would be a good read. It got off to a good start but that ended quickly. Everything just seemed flat and my only interest was to hurry up and get this over with. As for Delilah, to say she's incompetent is a compliment. This was a disappointing read.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this is a reissue and wasn't updated it's not a book I could enjoy as much as it could have been. With it being a reissue, I wish that the time had been taken to bring it into the current century. It's a well-written book and if you don't mind reading dated material then you will enjoy it. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Patricia Moren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story with lots going on to maintain interest the whole way through. I liked the character of Delilah West and the hint of a relationship with Eric, adds a bit of spice. Good read.

[John Sargent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good charactures , light plot.