Flipping Out by Marshall Karp (Review)

Flipping Out
By Marshall Karp
Mystery
Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press
ISBN# 0312378211 

Best-selling novelist Nora Bannister buys run-down houses in LA. While Nora’s business partners turn each one into a showpiece, she writes a book with the house as the scene of a grisly murder. When the book is released, the women put the house up for sale. A bidding frenzy ensues among those who wish to live in a place where a fictional character died a violent death.

All goes fine with the scheme until the real deaths begin. LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs are assigned the case, a case that hits close to home since some of the victims are cops’ wives. Lomax and Biggs must track down the murderer before Terry’s wife becomes a target.

The motive for the murders seems to come out of nowhere, but still, the book is light and humorous and fun to read. Karp has a marvelous ear for dialogue, and a knack for one-liners. One of my favorites: The senior tech at the morgue says of her charges, “We don’t let them check in unless they’ve checked out.”

Karp says, “I write for people who want three-dimensional characters, real laugh-out-loud humor that is organic to the situation, and plot twists right up to the final pages. And while I make no guarantees, I’d say that a steady diet of my books can also help you lose weight, double your income, and improve your sex life.”

So, there you have it: Flipping Out by Marshall Karp.

See also:
Conversation With Marshall Karp, Author of Flipping Out
Titles: What Makes a Good One by Marshall Karp
How To Do a Blog Tour by Marshall Karp