Reduced Circumstances: A Frank Cole Mystery
By Vincent H. O'Neil
St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95
ISBN: 978-0-3123-6966-8
Click here for an interview with the author.

On the advice of his attorney, former software company owner Frank Cole is once again working at near subsistence level in order to prevent the bankruptcy court from taking any additional assets. This time Frank is employed as a taxi dispatcher, a job which allows him to quietly contemplate his future even as his coworkers continually haze him. The quiet is shattered when he is approached first by a private detective and then by two thugs, all searching for the taxi customer who fled the scene of a drug bust. Spurred on by his own curiosity and encouraged by the P.I. Curtis Winslow, Frank begins hunting for the young man whose multiple identities lead back to his incarcerated grifter parents. Throw in a femme fatale, a drug lord, and the discovery that everyone lies, Frank soon finds himself up to his armpits in con artists and danger.

The sequel to the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Murder in Exile, Reduced Circumstances continues the adventures of a reluctant hero who uncovers a surprising talent for investigation while under the tutelage of experienced detectives. While the case may again be less than riveting, Frank and Winslow prove to be an engaging new team. A character-driven novel, it stumbles only in the neglect of Frank's girlfriend Beth Ann, previously a strong woman who in this outing appears only to (reasonably) nag Frank and his attorney for their slacker and unmotivated plan that keeps Frank barely working and living on rice and pasta.

This 211-page novel moves swiftly and the likable characters beg for better cases that will force Frank to step up his investigation skills. This engaging second novel by O'Neil reveals his growing talent and hopefully we can look forward to additional appearances by the witty, laid-back hero.

Review by CINDY CHOW

©2007 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.