Bad Vibes

Fizz & Buchanan #3

by Joyce Holms

Moonlighting as stand-by receptionist in an Edinburgh hotel, Fizz is intrigued by the apparently accidental death of a German tourist and when a valuable painting turns out to be missing from his effects it sets her antennae twitching. Her sleuthing partner, lawyer Tam Buchanan, has already had his fill of Fizz’s unconventional methods, which are inclined to take little regard for the law of the land, and steadfastly refuses to get involved. However, it appears that if he doesn’t agree to abet her she may turn for help to the new junior partner who is altogether too much of a lady-killer. Besides, it soon appears that something fishy is going on at the hotel. Frazer and Gloria Renton, the owners, appear seriously scared of something and the advent of a malevolent visitor with a physique like a piece of earth-moving equipment and a lead-weighted umbrella certainly invites investigation. The hotel appears to be staffed entirely by the sort of bizarre characters who seem to be attracted to Fizz like pins to a magnet, particularly Johnny-Boy the gay chef whose running battles with the belligerent Gloria verge on the homicidal On a trail that leads from Edinburgh to an artist’s retreat in the Moorfoot Hills, to a Glasgow Country-and-Western club, and to a lonely Hebridean island Fizz and Tam find themselves caught up in a complex mystery which will test their ingenuity - and their budding friendship - to the limit and uncover what should have been the perfect murder.Check out the rave reviews for this one on Amazon Books.REVIEWSVAL Engaging and entertaining, it builds to a spectacular climax. Deft, daft and definitely delicious. Holms is a magician. - the reader is so busy laughing, the clues slip by unnoticed. (Manchester Evening News)IAN RANKIN. : Delightfully quirky. For Joyce’s stories you don’t need a strong stomach, though you may find your sides aching with laughter. Her humour is sharp without being nasty, her characters well-drawn and her Edinburgh a place you’ll want to spend time in. SUNDAY The writing is deft and smooth, the characters well-drawn and Fizz and Tam are a couple worth keeping an eye on.SUNDAY A cleverly plotted story. The characters are well-drawn and the story moves along at an enjoyably brisk pace.SHERLOCK HOLMES Diverting humour and nifty characterization. Go on – go out, get it, gasp and giggle.BIRMINGHAM A good story, light-hearted, full of fascinating characters .SHOTS Holms has a gift for writing pacy mysteries with a central pair of very engaging characters,SCENES OF CRIME Holms has a gift for writing light, pacey mysteries with an engaging pair of central characters in Fizz and Tam.THE delightfully quirky.

Genres: Mystery

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a fun read. The main characters are a classic mix matched pair, the plot was fairly plausible for an amateur detective story, and I enjoyed the Edinburgh setting.