She Demons: A Mister Jinnah Mystery

Mister Jinnah Mystery #2

by Donald J. Hauka

How can an enterprising newspaper reporter sell his Babji dolls when theres a beheaded street youth, a Rave Messiah battling a berserk God Squad, and a conniving new editor to deal with? Especially when hes suffering all the symptoms of dengue fever? Hakeem Jinnah is back and as politically incorrect as ever. The chain-smoking, headline-chasing hypochondriac is in a race to find a killer and help save his buddy Sergeant Grahams career. But a bevy of She Demons bedevil him at each turn. Soon Jinnah is entangled in a cultic web that threatens his friends, his family, and his life.

Fast-paced, funny, and suspenseful, this is the second Mister Jinnah novel featuring the larger-than-life crime reporter. Just as in his debut adventure, Mister Jinnah: Securities, the flirtatious and always resourceful Jinnah has to use every ounce of his investigative genius to solve a crime and make a few extra dollars on the side.

Genres: Mystery

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Don Hauka is a versatile writer who has worked in every medium, from print to broadcast, new media to stage and screen. His latest novel, Pizza 991: A Mister Jinnah Mystery (Dundurn, Toronto) is the third featuring the larger-than-life crime reporter and will be released on June 13. His first novel, Mr. Jinnah: Securities, was adapted for television and broadcast on CBC in 2003. "Jinnah on Crime: Pizza 911," aired on CBC in 2002 and was nominated for a Gemini award in the Best Movie or Dramatic Mini-series category. Mister Jinnah: She Demons (Dundurn Press, Toronto), Hauka's second Mister Jinnah novel, was published in 2010.

Jinnah is based on Hauka's long-time Province newspaper colleague, Salim Jiwa. Hauka story-edited Jiwa's book, The Death of Air India Flight 182 (W.H. Allen and Co. 1986) and co-wrote Jiwa's Margin of Terror: A Reporter's Twenty-Year Odyssey Covering the Tragedies of the Air India Bombing. Hauka is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction history book McGowan’s War (New Star Books, Vancouver 2003).

Reviews

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A capable mystery, probably earning an extra star for being set in Vancouver, which I know well.

There is a need to make one's lead character unique, I admit, but I prefer the occasionally-mentioned hypochondria etc. to the feels-like-every-page cigarettes. And what did the dolls add? Maybe I'd know if I read book 1.

The characters were satisfactory, and the changes in direction were good. The rich-guy's-mansion scene felt quite generic, and the body-in-the-pool is pure stock writing.

I liked having Frosty between Jinnah and the Perry White / Jonah Jameson big boss. And the Jinnah-Graham relationship was good.

The climactic scene was not entirely credible, but for this particular book it's credible.

And I applaud the last few pages where Jinnah shows he's just a human.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the decapitation of a former drug dealer and police informant, crime reporter Hakeem Jinnah believes he’s come across a big story, particularly after the investigating officer consults with him at the crime scene. It isn’t long before Jinnah discovers that the murder might involve a cult led by the dynamic Lionel Simons. The cult, however, has made an enemy in the Reverend Peter Hobbes, leader of the God Squad, and when these two groups collide, sparks fly. When Jinnah’s son, Saleem starts hanging out with cult members and Jinnah finds himself being scooped by the TV reporter he once mentored, sparks start flying in Jinnah’s life as well.

She Demons is a humorous and engaging whodunit that is all about human foibles and the cost of ambition. Author Dan Hauka has created a likeable, well-rounded protagonist in Jinnah: a funny, hypochrondriac out to make a buck and a name for himself, while trying to be a good family man. I enjoyed Jinnah so much that I can’t wait to read more of this intriguing character.