| Book #9 of the Dick Hardesty Mystery series finds protagonist Dick Hardesty and his partner Jonathan with a new upstairs neighbor, Carlene DeNuncio, a lesbian single mother with a four year old son, Kelly. When Jonathan's own four year old nephew, Joshua, comes for a ten-day stay, he is enrolled in the same day care facility as Kelly, run by two lesbian sisters for the children of gays and lesbians.
Carlene's death by a hit-and-run driver prompts one of the sister-owners of the day care to hire Dick to look into the death, which she suspects was not accidental. The reader follows Dick through a maze of suspects--the other owner-sister of the day care, Carlene's angry ex-partner, and a very dysfunctional mother and son (Kelly's father). | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - none Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - power How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - homosexuals doing their thing Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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