When one of my summaries encourages a family member to start a series, I consider it a success. My sister went back to pick up the first in Rob Leininger’s series, Gumshoe, and she appreciated the humor. That’s good enough for me. I wish I hadn’t started with the fourth in the series, Gunshoe Rock, because there’s so much I enjoyed about Mort Angel.

Private investigator in training, Mort Angel, has a dubious reputation as a locator of famous missing people. He’s been known to find them, but instead of a live person, he finds some of their body parts when they’re dead. After a meeting with their boss, Maude Clary, Ma, head of Clary Investigations, he and his lover/assistant, Lucy Landry, find someone ripped the roof of Lucy’s Mustang convertible. They also dropped a human skull in to the driver’s seat.

That skull belongs to Ronald Soranden, the missing chief IRS agent in northern Nevada. Clary Investigations’ latest case now involves the police, the FBI, and, of course, the IRS. That case couldn’t possibly link to the team’s latest embezzlement investigation, could it? Well, Mort does have a knack for involvement in cases involving body parts and missing people.

The latest Gumshoe novel, Gumshoe Rock, is darkly humorous and unconventional. Mort Angel is aware of the absurdity of his career, and mentions Hammer and Spade watching. I enjoyed the snappy repartee, and the references to oldies radio, and classic detectives.

Gumshoe, the first book in the series, was a Shamus nominee. The author provides Mort’s backstory while he continues to develop Mort’s character. Readers who loved Robert B. Parker’s Spenser for the quick wit, or Matt Goldman’s Nils Shapiro, will appreciate the humor and investigative work in this fun example of the PI novel.

Rob Leininger’s website is www.robleininger.com 

Gumshoe Rock by Rob Leininger. Oceanview Publishing, 2019. ISBN 9781608093304 (hardcover), 368p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received the book to review for a journal.