Baron R. Birtcher has created a fine start to his investigator series featuring Mike Travis The novel Roadhouse Blues is fast and competent. It is full of wit that makes you laugh out loud. It is full of characters that you quickly find yourself caring about. But more importantly it is full of suspense that keeps you turning pages.

Mike Travis is a newly retired LAPD Homicide detective. Planning to spend his life with his boat, he starts a small-time charter service. Before his beer has a chance to chill in the cooler his former partner calls him away from the serene and scenic ocean.

Before retiring a case Travis worked on went unsolved. Someone had been murdering people. The police worked to link the victims, but could not. They were men, women, white, black…there seemed no pattern. What connected the crimes was the similar M.O. A single knife wound to the heart was determined the cause of death, and the palm of the left hand of the victims was cut.

There was a lull in the murders back when Travis first retired. But now the body of a new victim is found and Travis might be the only one who can find and stop the killing before more bodies turn up.

From the beginning until the end I was unable to think about much else besides Roadhouse Blues. Mostly told from the Mike Travis' point of view, Birtcher does a skillful job of switching to the point of view of the killer. This technique not only adds insight to the crimes committed, but it also adds tension for the reader. Quick chapters, great dialogue and full of action, Roadhouse Blues is the type of noir I enjoy most. I look forward to the second in the series, Ruby Tuesday.

REVIEWED BY PHILLIP TOMASSO III

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR, PHILLIP TOMASSO III

Phillip Tomasso III is the award-winning author of Adverse Impact, Johnny Blade, Third Ring, Tenth House and Mind Play. He works full time as an employment law paralegal, freelances for a community newspaper and writes regular book reviews for Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, The Best Reviews and Curled Up With A Good Book. Tomasso also writes middle grade novels under the pen name, Grant R. Philips. King Gauthier and the Little Dragon Slayer will be released by Port Town Publishing, September 2003; Sounds of Silence in the Fall of 2004 by Star Bright Books. Living in Rochester, New York with his wife and three children. Tomasso is currently at work on his next mystery and middle grade novels.