Karen E. Olson, the author of the Annie Seymour Mysteries, here brings back for her third appearance Brett Kavanaugh, owner of her own tattoo shop, The Painted Lady, in Las Vegas. As the book opens, Brett calls Jeff Coleman, her almost-boyfriend, to tell him that Jeff’s mother, Sylvia, who had borrowed Brett’s car to marry Bernie Applebaum in one of the ubiquitous wedding chapels that abound in Vegas, had returned the car with a little something extra: A dead body in the trunk. Wearing a tuxedo, no less.
Brett is the daughter and sister of cops; in fact, she shares her home with her detective brother, Tim. Jeff is actually a competitor of Brett, running a tattoo shop specializing in ‘flash,’ or stock tattoos, whereas Brett does only custom designs in her shop on the Strip in Vegas. She has come to L.V. by way of the Philadelphia University of the Arts, having ultimately decided “if I couldn’t set up an easel along the Seine in Paris, then I’d tattoo body parts in northern New Jersey” but, at 22, when the opportunity arose to own her own shop in Vegas, she jumped at the chance. A redhead nearly six feet tall, she cuts a striking figure.
It is determined that the dead man was one of several Dean Martins employed at a drive-through wedding chapel, and is also one of several characters in the tale who, by book’s end, have had the words “That’s Amore” tattooed on various body parts. Appropriately, that’s also the name of said wedding chapel. When three people go missing, including the new bride and groom, matters escalate. It begins to look as though someone is trying to kill all the Dean Martin impersonators. As is her nature, Brett decides to investigate, all warnings from brother Tim and the detective assigned to the murder notwithstanding.
The author captures the glitz of Vegas, as well as the aura of desperation in the casinos. I did feel that the book could have benefited from some tightening, with a bit less rehashing of the various points in the story line, though I must admit it was still difficult to keep everyone and everything straight. As in the previous entries in the series, the teachings of Sister Mary Eucharista are frequently invoked, to amusing effect, always provoking smiles. Brett is a funny, clever gal, words that also describe the books in which she appears, which are always entertaining.
