Emboozlement

McCall & Company #3

by Rich Leder

ONE SLIPPERY SPORTS BAR EMBEZZLER
TWO DEAD DECADENT DIVORCE LAWYERS
MCCALL & COMPANY ON THE CASE

PI Kate McCall was warned to stay home, stay put, and stay out of NYPD business. But someone is killing Lowry Lowe lawyers, and Kate is sure her father’s murderer is pulling the trigger. At the same time, former Major League relief pitcher Steve “Blue” Stark wants her to catch the crook embezzling big bucks from his West Side sports bar.

Kate can’t help but get in the game.

The problem is the killer is cluing her in before murdering each lawyer and she’s falling for Blue as fast as he’s becoming her prime suspect.

Can Kate and her crackpot crew catch her father’s killer before all the lawyers are dead? And will she find real love with dreamboat Blue? Or will she have to lock him up for stealing his own money?

If she comes through the kidnappings, she might beat the odds.

Genres: Humor, Mystery

441 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Rich Leder has been a working writer for more than three decades. His screen credits include 19 produced television films for CBS, Lifetime, and Hallmark, feature films for Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Longridge Productions, and Left Bank Films. He has published eight novels through Laugh Riot Press.

He has been the lead singer in a Detroit rock band, a restaurateur, a Little League coach, an indie film director, a literacy tutor, a magazine editor, a screenwriting coach, a wedding guru, a PTA board member, a commercial real estate agent, and a visiting artist for the University of North Carolina Wilmington Film Studies Department, among other things, all of which, it turns out, was grist for the mill.

Reviews

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Kate proves she cannot follow directions, unless it is on the stage of the D-Cup and once again, she finds herself up to her wigs in murder, mystery and mayhem. This time out, she is a text-buddy with her father’s murderer who is cluing her in that he may be murdering divorce attorneys and he is a man who knows actions speak louder than words. So, how does Kate ingratiate herself with said attorneys? Dangle a multi-million dollar divorce in their faces, but can she pull it off? Can she prevent death from dividing the divas of divorce?

When a former baseball star comes to Kate to uncover whose embezzling money from his lucrative sports bar, Kates bets on being able to hit a grand slam before the seventh inning stretch. That’s when she finds this game is going into overtime and she hasn’t covered all of her bases, including what happens if she falls for the bad guy?

Looking for some sunshine on a cloudy day? Spend a few hours in the zany world of Rich Leder’s EMBOOZLEMENT as Kate gives some of her best performances only to discover that the crowds she is playing for aren’t always buying what she is peddling. Humor, more humor and the return of her quirky friends as sidekicks to her PI antics and the ever-present hashing and re-hashing of Kate’s mental machinations!

Rich Leder is always entertaining with whip-smart quips, hurricane force action and Kate, the off-off-off Broadway actress who deserves a Tony for the “No-you did NOT just do that” category!

I am voluntarily reviewing this copy!

Series: McCall & Company - Book 3
Publisher: Laugh Riot Press (September 8, 2017)
Publication Date: September 8, 2017
Genre: Satire | Humor |Mystery
Print Length: 394 pages
Available from: Amazon |  Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

45 year old Kate McCall has inherited her father, Jimmy, Private Investigation business after he was murdered by a trained killer.

Kate decides that as a PI, it is her job to investigate her father’s murder and find out who killed him. This leads her to becoming acquainted, via messages, with the killer and he wants her dead as much as she wants to discover who he is.

Kate is also a Broadway actress (amongst other small acting jobs), in New York. She is part of a very eccentric theatre group who put on horrendous plays that the paying audience of thousands seem to love.

Alongside her investigations into her father’s death, she is also being paid to discover who is stealing from a sports bar, owned by a very sexy baseball player, that she is trying to keep her hands off, plus investigate a spate of murders at a well known law firm too.

Emboozlement, is a quirky book following the bizarre and exceptionally busy life of Kate McCall. She isn’t your usual protagonist, she has many flaws and if I’m honest came across as a bit of a mess most of the time.

The plot is fast paced, and Mr. Leder has certainly put a lot of energy into making his book have the right balance of storylines, humour, superb characters, and most of all, something to keep your mind occupied all the time.

However, I did feel that in parts that the humour was a little forced which ended up having the opposite effect. I also had to re-read sections to make sure I was following the right train of thought.

If you like quirky characters mixed in with a wacky plot, surrounded by humour, then this would be a great book for you.

[DJ Sakata · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Rating:

4.5

Favorite Quotes:

My bar’s as crazy as Nick Nolte too… Check that. Crazier. If we’re talking about crazy, Blue Bar is in Gary Busey territory.

We could barely breathe each other’s air for five minutes. For her, everything about me was tied too loose. For me, everything about her was wound too tight.

I was entirely Irish on my mother’s side and absolutely Irish on my father’s side, so I could be stubbornly stubborn just falling out of bed. Not to mention I was Jimmy McCall’s daughter, so I’d learned stubborn from the Hardheaded Heavyweight Champion of the World.

When you’re fourteen years old and nervous about talking to the boy two lockers down, that means you like that boy and you want it to work out with him. Guess what? When you’re forty-five, it means the same thing.

My Review:

I am always surprised when a man proves himself capable of bringing such a delightful female character to life with pitch-perfect feminine inner musings, insecurities, irrationality, and insights. Rich Leder has provided yet another highly amusing, entertaining, and well-crafted mystery that incorporated all aspects of Kate McCall’s colorful life. Poor Kate, she was still grieving the loss of her father’s murder and was being taunted by the killer and threatened by a homicide detective who had previously arrested her multiple times for various reasons – and each one highly amusing. Kate had the worst luck with romance, was a so-so actress, managed a rent-controlled complex of eccentric and questionably sane residents, and was still trying to get a grip on her new position of Private Eye after inheriting her murdered father’s business; but at least she had a killer right-cross that could knock a grown man out cold.

I enjoyed this quirky and adventurous tale from beginning to end and adore the intrepid Kate McCall/off-off-off Broadway actress/B-movie and late night commercial player/Private Detective. Kate was part of an unusual local theater troupe packed with odd and peculiar players who enthusiastically write and perform a rigorous schedule of unique/bizarre/outlandish musical productions as well as films, however, the strangest part of that for me was the fact that the troupe actually has a faithful following and played to a packed theater of a thousand. Only in New York… Her fellow actors often assisted her in her undercover private eye cases, with mixed results. I particularly enjoyed the assistance provided by an overly emotive actor which resulted in him being Tased during an interview, especially when he later repeatedly described his heroics as being “shocking,” and “supercharged.” Kate’s short-lived and ill-fated roles had not brought her notoriety, although they had provided her with a surplus of wardrobe, wigs, uniforms, props, and fake badges to use during her surveillance and undercover assignments. Although, I don’t know how she would be able to repurpose the vampire fangs she had somehow managed to learn to sing with while wearing. Kate has mad skills, and so does Rich Leder.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Mystery, Comedy
*Rating* 3.5

*Thoughts*

Emboozlement, by author Rich Leder, is the third installment in the author's McCall & Company series. As with the previous two installments, this book picks up right where the previous one left off. 45-year old Kate McCall is on a mission. 10 weeks ago, her father, Jimmy McCall, was brutally murdered by a corporate assassin, and she wants payback. Kate inherited Jimmy's business called McCall & Company Private Investigations which has come with some strange and bizarre cases; including a chain smoking lawyer named Mel Shovelson who appears literally out of nowhere every time Kate gets into trouble; which is to say a lot.

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[Clabe Polk · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Kate McCall’s father was murdered, she inherited his Private Detective business.

Understand that Kate is not a private detective; she is a forty-five year old actress employed in a (very) far off Broadway theatrical company. However, now that she can think of herself as a private detective, she makes it her business to find the killer who murdered her father; assisted by a small select group of wildly eccentric and sometimes bat-shit crazy actors and friends.

Kate’s must sandwich her investigations around her commitment to a production of a musical Psychedelic Sunday being performed by her theatre company at a theatre located in an old bra manufacturing facility known as the D-Cup. While the performances usually appeal to patrons as oddball as the actors, they provide Kate with acting practice and costumes useable in her investigations. More importantly, Kate loves acting; if it wasn’t for her father’s murder, she wouldn’t be a private eye at all.

Against that backdrop, Kate is cast into two simultaneous investigations; one, a request to investigate suspected embezzlement at a bar owned by a (to her) drop dead gorgeous former baseball player named Steve Stark, and two, by the promised pending murder of one of the city’s top divorce attorneys. Out of her league? Detective Logan of the NYPD knows she is; especially since the killer contacted Kate by text inviting her to the murder. Logan rants about Kate interfering with police business, but secretly admires her courage and fears for her safety.

Soon, Kate is embroiled in a murder plot involving four high profile attorneys, two couples (she thinks) and a killer. She has no idea who hired the killer or who will be the next victim. At the same time, she must take on one of New York’s most embedded bookies to identify the correct embezzler from among the employees at Steve Stark’s sports bar. Her best investigative skills and cunning never prepare her for the identity of the real embezzler. But, beyond embezzlement, she has developed feelings and invested them in Stark. But does Stark feel the same about Kate?

Emboozlement is a full blown crime/action detective novel written by one of the masters of satire and dry straight-faced humor. The author has created a cast of theatrical misfits whose eccentricities fit neatly into the story. Each character is developed sufficiently to play his or her role in a jig-saw puzzle of humorous and sometimes heartbreaking twists. While I would not call Emboozlement rip-roaringly humorous, it is written in a manner that kept a smile on my face even when reading at 1:00 AM.

This is a book that should be loved by any readers with a love of crime/action detective stories, or anyone else who appreciates tongue-in-cheek humor.

[Rowena Hoseason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Kate McCall. She’s smart and sassy, yet far from superhuman. She never intended to be a private eye and without her eccentric crew of irregulars she would certainly struggle to survive – never mind solve the series of mysteries she’s investigating.

Kate’s on the trail of her father’s killer and is also investigating embezzlement at a sports bar (while falling for the charms of its charismatic owner). Oh, and someone is disposing of decadent divorce lawyers with extreme prejudice – which is technically a crime as they end up quite dead. Hence she has her hands full. And so do the readers with this full-on romp through theatreland and the backstreets of the big city.

Sometimes author Rich Leder throws so much at his audience that you simply have to stop to catch your breath and let you brain assimilate all the information. The opening chapters in particular are a torrenting tumble of strange situations, peculiar people and pithy observations. You don’t need to have read the previous McCall & Co books to enjoy this one, but you will have to concentrate initially while the regulars take their bows in variously weird and wonderful ways. Leder obviously relished creating his idiosyncratic supporting cast but he doesn’t idealise them, and many an intimate tic is skewered by his sharply-honed societal commentary.

Once you’re up to speed, then you can sit back and enjoy the non-stop wild ride that is Emboozlement. A tight plot, colourful characters and dialogue to die for (not literally. Well. Maybe).

I didn't like the cover art, which I think will actively repel many readers who’d enjoy this book. The image of a women reduced to no more than her cleavage almost shoved this straight into the recycle bin. I suspect many readers will pass it by for that reason alone.

But it’s definitely recommended for fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.
7/10

There's a more about this book and may other crime / thrillers over at https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...

[Cheyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich Leder delivers yet another brilliant note to his jam packed McColl's and Company series with his latest third installment, Emboozlement.

The return to this world and it's fantastic, amusing and crazy array of characters is a delight. Right off the bat you're thrown into business, with Kate given yet another case to add to the ongoing one than runs a vein through the series. This results in there being a lot to fit in, to the point where the reader has to wonder how Kate manages to fit everything in like she does.

It is Leder's style of writing that keeps the chaos firmly on the tracks though, amplifying events to surreal levels and thus creating that chaos and hilarity. Despite the surreal quality to it all it strangely works really well and for the most part the reader excepts it and moves forward. But sometimes you have to stop and do a double take and laugh.

It's also nice to have a change of scenery as opposed to just the hustle and bustle of New York city life. In this book, we are transported to the countryside and to an underground station, to name just a few interesting environments that Kate's escapades take us to.

I certainly felt more invested in this story than the previous two installments (both of which are fantastic). It was due to the familiarity of this world and its characters that I was able to feel such.

Another fantastic story in the series, Leder continues to deliver heart and soul to his fast paced, chaotic narrative. Readers will be looking forward to what Kate gets up to next.

[Sarah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goes down as another off my 2019 Bookworm Bingo Challenge – A book over 400 pages. This might be the third book in the series but I didn’t feel too lost with who everyone was as it felt like a story in its own right.

So Kate took over her father Jimmy’s PI business after he was murdered. Just a bit of a difference from her day job of being an actor. She now has to do double the work with the cases sent over. Detective Lew Logan however isn’t always keen on her taking cases. Mainly when the investigation leads to her father’s case, which he wants her to stay out of for her own safety. The thing is that she knows she getting close to figuring out who the killer is, mainly due to the fact said killer has tried to kill her twice. Will she catch them before her time is up?

Now with being an actor and part of D-Cup drama productions she has others at her disposal to help her out with cases. The fact that they, along with herself, are good with disguises and accents makes it so much better to get close to clients to figure things out. Also good to play multiple players within the same game.

First case is with Blue who owns a bar and wants her to go undercover to figure out who is stealing from him. He thinks he knows who but needs to find proof. Could they be looking in the wrong direction? Always follow the money. If in doubt torture by show tune is one way to get information. The second case is not as safe as her father’s killer likes to torment her but texting her clues to figure out about his next target. This time it’s a partner at Lowry Lowe law firm. Two married couples with a lot of tension between them. Who would benefit most for one to be taken out? Can she figure out the target before it’s too late?

It’s time to go undercover for two cases. With killer and embezzlement cases coming together quickly the need for creating characters grows. One role down and onto the next when the answers they find don’t lead them to where they want to go. Let’s see which one she cracks first and if she gets caught out in her ruses. Getting close to Blue in the meantime isn’t too much of a hardship as passion soon starts to follow.

Logan is always wanting Kate as far from his case as possible but she ends up there anyway. Interesting dynamic between them. She infuriates him, always on his shit list but seem to work well together when the time comes and she has clues needed to fill in the blanks. She’s not stepping away from the case for personal reasons but also because the killer won’t let her. Aside from the fact he texts her in advance to see if she can figure out the clues fast enough as part of his game. He also wants her dead. She is very much an amateur still trying to find her feet in the PI world. Thrown in at the deep end with a killer after her.

An interesting read where you were trying to figure out the clues at the same time as Kate. Sharp witty dialogue in places but I did find it a bit long and ended up flicking through a few pages where no dialogue was happening. Interesting to see what other cappers Kate can get herself into, as I’m sure she will find trouble and chaos, sometimes in a funny way, no matter what she does. Actor by day, sleuth PI by night, with a killer on her tail. What could happen next is anyones guess.

I received a copy of this book from the author for my honest review.
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[Malavika P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC of Emboozlement by Rich Leder from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Emboozlement is the third book in the McCall and Company series. If you haven’t yet, please do check out my review for the first two books – Workman’s Complication and Swollen Identity. If you have read them, you might remember me writing a review along the lines – “OH MY GOD THIS WAS AMAZING”.

While my favorite in the series is definitely Swollen Identity (2), Emboozlement was a great addition to the series. I love every character from the House of Emotional Tics and the D-Cup Theatre so very much!

This book is a great read for those looking for a fun, light-hearted read. Every single situation that the folks in the book get into are unique and hilarious. Kate McCall has to be one of the greatest female protagonists I’ve ever read of – she’s smart, savvy, independent, confident and is the very opposite of a damsel-in-distress which makes her just the kind of badass female character that is lacking in so many books that I read.

Overall, Emboozlement by Rich Leder gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.