Repulse Monkey

Alex Glauberman #2

by Dick Cluster

REALLY BAD NEWS--THE BABY-SITTER COULD BE A MURDERER!
A year following Boston-based auto mechanic Alex Glauberman’s first brush with murder, mystery, and the life of an amateur detective (in RETURN TO SENDER), he’s recovered from cancer and chemotherapy; he’s studying tai chi for its pleasures and therapeutic effects; and he’s getting on with his life. Then, in the space of a two-minute phone call, he’s ensnared in another mystery.

His anniversary dinner with girlfriend Meredith comes to an abrupt halt when a quick check-in with the babysitter yields the news from Alex’s sleepy nine-year-old that the babysitter has left: “She said it was an emergency. She said the emergency was that somebody was dead.”

More worrisome still, the babysitter, college student Suzanne Lutrello, cannot be found, and then her ex-boyfriend is savagely killed.

Alex’s newly minted private detective skills come quickly into play, but he soon discovers he isn't the only one looking for Suzanne. As he outruns her pursuers and their threats, he navigates the world of old Boston money to its intersection with small-town corruption, high-end prostitution, and drug-addiction recovery, in a life-or-death finish amid the stark white New England winter woods.

For fans of Jewish detectives like Rabbi Small, Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, Rebecca Schwartz, Jake Samson—even Moses Wine (without the wisecracks); and those who love vintage male sleuths like Ellery Queen, Gideon Oliver, Stanley Hastings, and almost all British detectives--the ones who're not too cozy, yet not too hard-boiled. This case is more of an action adventure story than a traditional mystery—but trust us, it’ll appeal to fans of the traditional mystery as well as those who’ll appreciate Alex’s putting his tai-chi training to good use. How do we know? Because Alex is one of those dependable detectives all too rare in crime fiction—a private investigator you actually like to be with. Not too smart-mouthed, not too close-mouthed, just…kind of a mensch.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Ebooks

265 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 1989

About the author

What seems like mystery, says a reggae lyric by Jimmy Cliff, is only untold history. I've written both crime novels and history books, as well popular economics (another mystery, for sure). Some of these have been translated into Japanese, Danish, Hungarian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Bulgarian.

Most recently, a few years living in Cuba led me to do translation myself, from Spanish to English, and to co-author a social history of Havana with a Cuban colleague. We tell what it's been like for people living in the Cuban capital over the past five centuries, and something about why.

You can find some of my translations linked via this author page; others won't show up here, because the industry is still ambivalent about translators, but if you search by my name you'll find them.

Reviews

[Will]

Even though I didn't have high expectations for this story since I'm not into Tai Chi or Zen, I was still bitterly disappointed and literally bored to tears. If there is an upside to the story, it's that the characters were fairly developed. Other than that, the dialogue was repetitive and long-winded, the plot dragging, and a lot of extra words that only added length and no substance to the tale. It became a struggle to finish and there actually was a little drama and excitement right at the very end. But then instead of wrapping it up on the high note, the author drags the reader back into the boring details of his character's lives. To sum it up in one word-boring.

[Linda Ellis]

Okay, but not gripping

I was unable to empathise with any of the characters and found the plot bitty, confusing and unsatisfying. I got to the end, but was tempted many times to give up. It just didn’t work for me.

[GW]

Repulsed Money

This book was an OK read. Many confusing typos but not bad enough to spoil the book. The author tells a good story but at times uses too many words to do so.

[Bob]

Read on the Kindle, this book follows Alex, the owner of a auto repair shop in Boston, single father of a young girl and his girl friend as he becomes mixed up in a murder investigation when his babysitter is suspected of being the killer. Much is not as it seems as he starts his investigation and soon there is another killing. The setting ranges between Boston and the ski areas of New Hampshire and Alex has to survive several threats before things are worked out. A fair read.

[Martha]

I chose to read this book because of it was a mystery with a tai chi theme. It also worked well to have the amateur detective, Alex Glauberman, be an auto mechanic and a cancer survivor. The mystery gets solved, several interesting characters are introduced, and a trip to New Hampshire ske country makes an pleasant setting. The folks at booksbenimble take pride in actually editing their books for grammatical errors (not the case with many ebooks I read) and that touch was very welcome.

[Dale Van]

Murder and mayhem goes to ski country.

The mystery slowly unravels after introducing many possible peeps. The story gets many red herrings along the way but Alex is like a bulldog and knows who he must bring to justice. The climax is a mix of sadness and celebration.

[Robbie]

Interesting character: auto mechanic, tai chi student, cancer survivor and amateur detective. I wanted to like this one. but it just wasn't my kind of mystery.

[Mary Piragas]

Will definitely read more

I really enjoyed the character Alex. A solid mystery kept me interested until the end. I want to go back to the first book.

[Beth]

A mystery set in New England. Odd cast of characters and some very strange twists and turns in the plot line. This might have been a better read if I had read the first in the series.

[Shirley Sexton]

Good story

I enjoyed reading this book. It's a little wordy at times. The plot is slow to grab you but picks up. All in all a good story.

[Elizabeth]

Blah. Didn't connect with any characters. Didn't care who killed who.

[Min]

It's just so boring. Didn't even go beyond a few chapters. I don't know what's the deal with tai-chi or whatever, and why he's involved with another. I have not read Book 1 so I'm not aware of the previous characters.