Dying Hard in the Big Easy: A Lemon Boy Phillips Mystery

by Rod Sanford

Lemon Boy Phillips, of Paladin Security, provided protection and crowd management. The Lemon Boy tag was a childhood reference to his complexion and freckles. Then Lola Montclaire strolled back into his life. In New Orleans, bluesman Blind Billy Brown was planning a concert in the Ninth Ward, and he called Old School performers to come home, including Lola, her nephew MC TruLuv, and her security, Lemon Boy, but it wouldn't be N'awlins without controversy.Billy's concert was taking place at the same time as the famous New Orleans Jazz Revival. Secondly, the lead act at the revival was TruLuv's enemy, MC "OOO-WEE," a rapper whose music is only overshadowed by his drunken violence. Then MC OOO-WEE was found dead, and his girlfriend Alexis was found floating in the Mississippi. THAT WAS A MISTAKE, KILLING THEM ON LEMON BOY'S WATCH! Evidence pointed to someone from Blind Billy's concert. The police were eager to make an arrest. Lemon Boy had to make sure it's the right person. With the help of his staff, Terri, Bobby Sr. and Bobby Jr., he will solve the case Dying Hard in the Big Easy!

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. The author is a journalist, and it shows in both good ways (description, background info on characters) and bad (sometimes too insistent on getting as much info into a short space when he could have let it come out through dialogue or action; on the other hand some dialogue, especially early on, reads like authorial background and not natural speech). Characters interesting, particularly a good job at making victims sympathetic, but not so good at making villain's personality understandable. Well plotted (material clues were all there but subtle enough to be a bit of a challenge), though ending seemed a bit too contrived (see comments on villain). Sub plots were mildly interesting, though ultimately more a source of distraction than depth.

As a former New Orleanian, I enjoyed the potrayal of NOLA, but the "yes, that's so New Orleans" moments were balance out by quite a few "huh?" moments.