The Blue Scorpion: A Loy Lombard Mystery

by Julia Lieber

"Unforgettable!"-Claire McNab on There Came Two Angels Who was Natalie Wolf? A Russian mail-order bride married to an oafish husband? A desperate woman who disappeared, trying to escape from an international prostitution ring? Or the deadly third in a triangle of blackmail and white slavery? Hired by Natalie's husband Abel to find his missing wife, Loy Lombard learns quickly the pitfalls of finding a missing person whose identity keeps changing. Following on the success of There Came Two Angels , Julia Lieber once again proves herself adept at putting her surly sleuth in deep jeopardy and leading her out safely! Julia Lieber is an attorney practicing in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is the author of There Came Two Angels , the novel that introduced Loy Lombard.

Genres: Lesbian Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Nairne Holtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a shame the author only wrote two books in this amusing detective series set in the Southern US because she has a real talent for character and dialogue. While the characters play to type, they aren’t tired. The series stars Loy Lombard, a blustery butch private investigator who doesn’t display the best judgment but gets her man (or woman) in the end. The supporting cast includes co-worker, Sam McLean, who plays the straight man (and is one), an assortment of sexy lesbians, and aspiring sidekick, Tyler Rhodes, a wealthy gay man who supports left-wing causes. Lombard and McLean are hired by a tough old lady named Gussie to retrieve money she believes was stolen from her by her daughter-in-law, a Russian mail-order bride. The police think her son killed his missing Russian bride, but Gussie insists, “My son is a weirdo. But that don’t make him a killer.” Exactly who people are is the central question this mystery explores. Is Gussie’s son a creep, a fool, or a creep and a fool? Is his wife a victim of abuse or an operator with ties to the Russian mob? Do Lombard’s friends or enemies stand in the way of her mission to discover the truth? And, finally, which of the women in her life are mistakes and which are girlfriend-material? A recommended beach read.