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Delilah West #5
Trade-Off: A Delilah West Mystery
When tough, sassy California P.I. Delilah West is hired to find a missing teenager, the apparently routine case becomes complicated by a slick, sexy land developer and a dead body in the yard next door
- GenresMystery
Hardcover
First published February 1, 1996
25 people want to read
About the author
Maxine O'Callaghan
42 books17 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1999.
Aka Marissa Owens
Aka Marissa Owens
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 17, 2019
On the surface, private investigator Delilah West is pretty much like every other female P.I.
She's a former cop; single; her agency is struggling, yada, yada, yada.
But once you get into Maxine O'Callaghan's novel "Trade-Off" you realize that there's something different about Ms. West.
For one thing, she sweats.
For another, her feet hurt sometimes.
I mention these two things because even though this novel is more than 20 years old (I found it at a yard sale and thought it looked intriguing so I shelled out a quarter for it), it reads as well as some of the best novels being produced today by Indie authors. By that I mean it doesn't follow "the formula" of most standard mysteries and Delilah West seems "real," not like some idealized version of a working woman in a dangerous profession. The result: Unlike many female private detectives in mainstream fiction, Ms. West isn't perfect. She makes mistakes, guesses wrong sometimes, and doesn't always "play nice" with the cops. She's not fashionable, doesn't know tae kwan do, and drives a minivan because it makes more sense than a flashy sports car.
O'Callaghan has a nice narrative voice. She moves the story along at a good pace and her descriptions of the overdeveloped nightmare that is suburban Southern California (and its freakish weather patterns) are not just there to fill in the blanks between action scenes. Instead, they actually help to push the story forward and provide some interesting context for the reader.
The characters in "Trade-Off" are well drawn; from the overworked secretaries at an apartment complex to the handsome executive who has been pursuing Delilah for awhile, they are well fleshed out even if they do not appear on many pages.
The plot is well thought out, complete with red herrings and a twist that I did not see coming - a big plus in my opinion.
All in all, a really nice read and a book I have no problem recommending.
She's a former cop; single; her agency is struggling, yada, yada, yada.
But once you get into Maxine O'Callaghan's novel "Trade-Off" you realize that there's something different about Ms. West.
For one thing, she sweats.
For another, her feet hurt sometimes.
I mention these two things because even though this novel is more than 20 years old (I found it at a yard sale and thought it looked intriguing so I shelled out a quarter for it), it reads as well as some of the best novels being produced today by Indie authors. By that I mean it doesn't follow "the formula" of most standard mysteries and Delilah West seems "real," not like some idealized version of a working woman in a dangerous profession. The result: Unlike many female private detectives in mainstream fiction, Ms. West isn't perfect. She makes mistakes, guesses wrong sometimes, and doesn't always "play nice" with the cops. She's not fashionable, doesn't know tae kwan do, and drives a minivan because it makes more sense than a flashy sports car.
O'Callaghan has a nice narrative voice. She moves the story along at a good pace and her descriptions of the overdeveloped nightmare that is suburban Southern California (and its freakish weather patterns) are not just there to fill in the blanks between action scenes. Instead, they actually help to push the story forward and provide some interesting context for the reader.
The characters in "Trade-Off" are well drawn; from the overworked secretaries at an apartment complex to the handsome executive who has been pursuing Delilah for awhile, they are well fleshed out even if they do not appear on many pages.
The plot is well thought out, complete with red herrings and a twist that I did not see coming - a big plus in my opinion.
All in all, a really nice read and a book I have no problem recommending.
August 25, 2016
All in all the book was interesting with many twists near the end. Delilah is a typical fictional female detective -- broke, involved in a questionable relationship, and subject to occasional physical injuries in the line of solving the mystery. The characters are interesting while involving many options of cause for the crime.
June 27, 2022
Well written, good ending. No regrets picking this up from the thrift store.
April 14, 2025
Maxine O'Callaghan's Trade-Off features PI Delilah West, handling a routine missing persons case. More than one trade-off is in play here. Delilah starts searching for a missing teenager who ran off after a fight with her father. Apparently she ran off with her boyfriend, but there might be more to the story. Possibly just coincidentally, the next door neighbor was murdered the same day. Was Tamra a witness? Was she involved in the killing? Was she really with her boyfriend and could they have acted together? Delilah's investigation takes her to an apartment complex that was the boyfriend's last known address. The neighbors there are loud, obnoxious, and appear to be dealing drugs. After Delilah's attempt to find out more about them, she is almost killed by a man driving a big truck. When she returns to the apartment complex, she discovers an active police drug investigation. Delilah keeps looking for the girl, but the privacy-obsessed father takes her off the case. The murdered woman's husband is charged with murder. Delilah trades him for her old client and is now back to searching for Tamra to help her new one. The final trade-off involves trading a life for a life. The action is both suspenseful and believable. Maxine O'Callaghan's Delihah West books are turning up at thrift shops and tag sales. I got mine (number five in a series) at a friends of the library sale. If you find one, grab it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews