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Harry Rice #1
The Harry Chronicles
From an exciting new author to watch comes a mystery featuring Harry Rice, Florida oceanside bar owner and part-time sleuth. When a simple robbery investigation turns into a complex case of adultery and murder, Harry is "encouraged" to leave the case alone.
- GenresMystery
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 6, 2020
PROTAGONIST: Harry Rice, PI and bar owner
SETTING: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Harry Rice is the owner of an oceanside bar in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and does private investigative work on the side. He is hired by a well-to-do client, Eloise Loftus, to find her gun collection which was stolen during a home robbery. As the investigation proceeds, Harry finds that something is not right--the guns aren't worth nearly the amount that Loftus says they are. Things get more complicated when her husband, Wade, a lawyer, also wants to hire Harry and is later murdered. Harry cracks wise and has signs of developing into an interesting character in this first book.
SETTING: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Harry Rice is the owner of an oceanside bar in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and does private investigative work on the side. He is hired by a well-to-do client, Eloise Loftus, to find her gun collection which was stolen during a home robbery. As the investigation proceeds, Harry finds that something is not right--the guns aren't worth nearly the amount that Loftus says they are. Things get more complicated when her husband, Wade, a lawyer, also wants to hire Harry and is later murdered. Harry cracks wise and has signs of developing into an interesting character in this first book.
July 3, 2012
I really liked this book! It is like an old detective (PI) novel, with all the crazy descriptions. It was a really good plot, lots of twists. I didn't know the bad guy till the very end. There is one part towards the end that is a little too descriptive at a strip bar (but I'm kind of sensitive to that stuff). All in all, good book
October 20, 2008
THE HARRY CHRONICLES - Ex
Pedrazas, Allan - 1st book
The personable Harry Rice, who supports his penchant for detection by running the kind of bar that respectable PIs past and present would happily call their own, is a glib wisecracker, whose unlucky love life and solo walks on the beach mark him as a soulful type, too. His difficult new client, the middle-aged but well-put together Eloise Loftus, is holding out on him. She says she wants him to find a valuable gun collection that she claims was stolen from her apartment during a physically impossible heist. But her husband scares Harry off the trail. So does a sultry redhead who both piques Harry's curiosity and delivers a highly professional warning to back off the case. Then the husband turns up murdered and Harry becomes a suspect.
Good character, plot twists, strong sense of place, humor. I really enjoyed this.
Pedrazas, Allan - 1st book
The personable Harry Rice, who supports his penchant for detection by running the kind of bar that respectable PIs past and present would happily call their own, is a glib wisecracker, whose unlucky love life and solo walks on the beach mark him as a soulful type, too. His difficult new client, the middle-aged but well-put together Eloise Loftus, is holding out on him. She says she wants him to find a valuable gun collection that she claims was stolen from her apartment during a physically impossible heist. But her husband scares Harry off the trail. So does a sultry redhead who both piques Harry's curiosity and delivers a highly professional warning to back off the case. Then the husband turns up murdered and Harry becomes a suspect.
Good character, plot twists, strong sense of place, humor. I really enjoyed this.
November 24, 2014
This little gem was an award winner and was also nominated for a couple other awards, including the Edgar. A terrific novel, quickly paced with a sparkling wit that is indeed rare. There are very few novels that I will read a second time, and this is one them.
June 7, 2022
Harry Rice is clever, sharp, and given just the right touch of insecurity to be a believable every-man medium boiled gumshoe…the the love child of Dashiel Hammet and Carl Hiassen. Pedrazas spins a yarn worth twice the time!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews



