One O'Clock Jump: A Dorie Lennox Mystery

By Lise McClendon

Book Overview

Halfway around the world, war has begun, but for Dorie Lennox, a newly-minted private-eye on her first tail, danger is more immediate. The dark streets of Kansas City of 1939 offer swing music, fast cars, gangsters, and the chance to forget about the Depression and her own murky past. But first Dorie must conquer her fears and save a woman on a bridge high above the muddy Missouri. When the woman takes a dive, Dorie is thrown into a quickly unraveling scam that offers salvation to few - and misery to plenty - in the high stakes world of machine politics and desperation deals. Lennox's path to Kansas City is full of detours, a brush with the law, a lost family, an aborted university and track career. But she's found a home of sorts in the Italian neighborhood of the Market, in a boardinghouse full of souls as lost and quirky as her own. Her switchblade goes everywhere with her, even as a rabbit's foot for luck, and sometimes as much more. Her boss, Amos Haddam, was a British soldier in World War I. Lost behind the lines he was gassed and has the scarred lungs to prove it. When he lands in the hospital, Lennox must carry the ball, clearing Haddam's name and finding who is playing her for a sucker. With vivid, sure prose and sharp dialogue, the world of Dorie Lennox comes alive, behind the wheel of her Packard, into the packinghouses, race tracks, and mansions of Kansas City. The landscape of America, the homefront of World War II, is evoked in a thoughtful, forceful mystery that lingers for the force of characters and keen sharpness of a slice of history through the perceptive, compassionate eyes of Dorie Lennox.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312251955
• ISBN13: 9780312251956
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

After I read this, I bought the second in this series

This book is written in an unusual style that can take a little getting used to. At first I found myself irritated by the David-Mamet-Style dialogue and continual vague references to the past with little idea of what was being referred to (I checked to make sure this really was the first in the series). Sentences like "Beloit. Atchinson." can be quite annoying, but I wouldn't let that stop you from reading this excellent mystery. Set in Kansas City as World War II is beginning in Europe (Germany has just bombed Poland, setting off the war), the lead is a female private investigator. Dorrie Lennox is tough (carries a switchblade and swears like a sailor), but also vulnerable and likeable. She has been asked to trail a woman that she is told is the client's girlfriend, but while she's doing this, late at night, she sees the woman jump off a bridge into the Missouri River (to her death). She is asked to continue her investigation, to find out more about this woman. Something is definitely off, and Dorrie finds herself with a lot of unknown enemies that may be taking interest in her work for different reasons -- in other words, it's more than one person/group who is trying to influence her behavior. Gangsters play a role, as does a fast-talking journalist and a law firm. Her employer, an Englishman whose lungs were severely damaged by poison gas during WWI, is not able to provide the usual guidance because of health problems. The more I read this book and adjusted to the style, the more I enjoyed it. I must say that although it was well-plotted, some of the things that were supposed to surprise the reader did not surprise me. On the other hand, after all the mysteries I've read, I think I'm not the average reader, so most would probably be surprised. I can hardly wait to read the second in the series to find out what Dorrie is up to and how her fragile romance is going.

The Girl with the Switchblade

Travel back in time to a simpler life when escape from poverty was part of the American dream. That road to success sometimes took a drastic fall, in the case of Iris Jackson, it is off the Hannibal bridge.For P.I. Dorie Lennox, the investigation becomes personal when she is threatened and told to quit the case. As she continues digging for answers, more people enter her investigation, each creating questions that need answers. Answers that always seem to come with pain. Quite often to Lennox's body.Lise McClendon has captured the flavour of prewar Kansas City and blended it with exciting intrigue that carries us along to its emotion-filled conclusion.This book becomes a splendid page turner as the mystery deepens. It is really quite a decent read.

WOW!

I am a huge fan of the Alix Thorssen series, but I have never been one for historical stuff. Imagine my surprise when I took a chance on McClendon's latest. I love Dorie Lennox even more than Alix, and I did not think that was possible. I can't wait to read the next one!

Travel back in time with this exciting book

One O'clock Jump by Lise McClendon shoved me into the past and had me seeing the world as a black and white movie. I was shocked when I looked up from the prose to find myself in 2001. The book is a solid mystery filled with interesting characters and great writing, but what grabbed me the most was the sense of place and time created by the author. I'm not a fan of historical mysteries....... well, except this one. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of new series, because I want to enter this world again. Terrific book!

So atmosheric one feels like they are in 1939

By 1939 the Great Depression is all but over and prohibition has been repealed. President Roosevelt wants to keep the country out of the latest Great War in Europe even as many of his countrymen want to serve overseas. Dorrie Lennox is somewhat concerned with global events, but is more interested in her work as a private detective. Her partner is Amos Haddan, a victim of mustard gas that haunts him two decades after the war to end all wars ended.Dorie's latest engagement involves tailing Iris Jackson to see if she is cheating on her boyfriend. She follows Iris for a week only to observe her target commit suicide by jumping off the Hannibal Bridge. Stunned by the event, the case continues when her client hires Dorrie to conduct a thorough investigation of Iris' life. However, a twist occurs when the police charge her mentor Amos with murder, leaving it to Dorrie to find out who set them up so smoothly.Lise McClendon, author of the Thorssen mysteries, shows how versatile her talent is with a new series set in 1939 that uses period idioms and vernacular to set the tone. This technique along with historical references provides a glimpse at the atmosphere of the era just before America's entry into World War II. The complex, cleverly crafted mystery keeps reader's attention throughout the novel. Dorie is hard-boiled on the outside yet tender on the inside, as she has risen above some tough breaks in her life. Ms. McClendon has started a new winning series that will please historical mystery fans.Harriet Klausner