Sweet and Lowdown

by Lise McClendon

Europe is at war. Nazi bombers are hammering London. Wendell Willkie is giving Roosevelt a run for his money. In Kansas City, Dorie and her partner Amos are trying to keep the blonde and beautiful... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1978215266
• ISBN13: 9781978215269
• Release Date: October 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

As much a novel as a mystery -- very well written, takes you back in time

I normally don't like period mysteries, in part because many of them are not very well written and/or because the "let's remind you what time it is" becomes forced (little lessons about what people wore, traveled, social relations, etc.) This is the second book in this series that I've read, and because I'd read another in the series, I was more prepared for the style and enjoyed it from the beginning. Dorrie Lennox is a tough young female private eye who lives in Kansas City around the beginning of World War II. The book begins with her tailing Thalia, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy woman who is dying of cancer. Thalia's mother fears for her daughter's well-being, given the fast life this girl is living. Dorrie begins to suspect that the choir director of the choir that this night-clubbing young woman belongs to is not on the up-and-up. She starts checking into him further. All this is hindered by the fact that she's on parole for stabbing a man who couldn't take no for an answer, and she can no longer carry a weapon -- her trusty switchblade -- so when she runs into nasty people, she is vulnerable. Additionally, the police are giving her grief and haul her in from time to time. This is one of those books that absorb you into another world, and without explicitly describing how it was different then, you get the feel for the time and place. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this relatively new series. I'd like to find out what happens next to Dorrie. If you like those old black & white "noir" movies (for example, The Maltese Falcon) and you like tough but likeable women detectives, I think you'll enjoy this book.

McClendon has another winner in 2nd Dorie Lennox book

Dorie Lennox's assignment is to tail the spoiled heiress-to-be, Thalia Hines, daughter of an old acquaintance of Dorie's partner and fellow private eye. Evaline Hines is dying and desperate to be sure her beautiful but wild only child doesn't become involved with too many of the wrong kind of fortune hunting men that she seems so drawn to. So she has hired Amos Haddam and Dorie to keep an eye on Thalia. The assignment means lots of late nights in night clubs and dance halls as Thalia jumps from admirer to admirer. The present front runner for Thalia's affections seems to be Barnaby Wake and there are rumors that Mr. Wake is involved in a lot of unsavory pastimes, when he's not directing the Hallelujah Choir at the Plaza Methodist Church. Wake is not only married; he has been linked with several other women and his politics seem to lean toward support of political troublemakers in the days just before America enters the second World War. Definitely not prime son in law material! This book is a terrific look at 1940s Kansas City as seen through the eyes of tough but vulnerable Dorie Lennox. Many of the characters from the first book are back, along with the tight plots and fast paced action that kept the reader guessing in 'One O'Clock Jump'. Can Dorie stay out of jail and out of trouble long enough to do her client's bidding? I hope that Lise McClendon is already working on her next Dorie Lennox book. There is still a lot I want to know about this character. I also really enjoy the early 1940s setting and the fact that the action takes place in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. This is a real winner of a book and a definite "5"!