Ten little New Yorkers

An ominous prologue commences this new mystery starring Kinky Friedman as the potty-mouthed private investigator. Referring to Kinky in the past tense, Ratso, one of the Village Irregulars and a would-be Watson to Kinky's Sherlock, begins with the revelation that this, Kinky's seventeenth adventure, will be his final exploit. When the wallet of one of the victims of a series of seemingly unrelated murders turns up in his apartment, the Kinkster is implicated, especially after clues left at the scene of the various crimes reveal that either the killer is the Kinkster or is someone with considerable knowledge of his habits and music. Never known for his love of humanity, the Kinkster is even more morose than usual, though he does show a bit of empathy by pondering the real-life case of Max Soffar, a prisoner on death row in Texas. Will this be the Kinkster's last case? It's hard to say, although, Friedman, like Arthur Conan Doyle before him, may have grown tired of his own creation. --Benjamin Segedin Copyright 2005 Booklist

Friedman's comic, semi-autobiographical mystery series apparently comes to an end with this downbeat 18th entry, which, like 2004's The Prisoner of Vandam Street, is suffused with melancholy and loss. Friedman-the-detective is suffering from the disappearance of a close, longtime companion-his cat. When he decides to leave New York City for Texas to escape the doldrums, he's tracked down by a regular nemesis from the NYPD, Det. Sgt. Mort Cooperman, after the wallet of a murder victim, possibly the fourth in a series, turns up in Kinky's apartment. Four more murders occur, with clues again pointing to Friedman once he returns to the Big Apple. While the circle of suspects seems to be limited to his closest associates, suspense is lessened by the unlikelihood that a member of his Village Irregulars has suddenly been transformed into a psychopath. The depressing ending may disappoint some fans expecting the series' trademark laugh-out-loud humor stemming from Friedman's uniquely wry and twisted narrative voice. One can only hope that the author will soon apply his considerable gifts for creating colorful characters and amusing situations to a new series. Agent, David Vigliano. Author tour. (Mar. 8) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The cops think that the Kinkster is doing in all those little New Yorkers. With an eight-city author tour. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Could the Kinkster's 17th case be his last? Kinky Friedman has the blues. He hasn't had a case since The Prisoner of Vandam Street (2004). His cat has disappeared. His sidekick Ratso Sloman's prologue to his latest case is full of dire echoes of Conan Doyle's story "The Final Problem." Kinky continues his one-sided chats with the absent cat and visits his sister's animal rescue ranch outside Austin, but his ears don't begin to twitch again until three slain New Yorkers are joined by a fourth, Robert Scalopini, who left his wallet in Kinky's loft the night before he was killed--quite a feat, Detective Sergeant Mort Cooperman glowers, for a guy who was vacationing in Vermont. The news that Scalopini had done time long ago for assaulting a young girl makes Kinky wonder whether the other victims were equally nasty. Even as he's unearthing their unsavory pasts, the murderer is obligingly enlarging his database by providing fresh corpses. But why does all the evidence in the case--the killer's knowledge of Kinky's first song, his use of unlabeled Cuban cigars as a murder weapon and the phrase "too kinky" in a taunting note--point toward the Kinkster himself? Even though the Texas Seinfeld's dour mood dampens his scabrous humor, here's hoping the endnote by a famous New York Times reporter, mixing elegy and hilarity, is just as inaccurate about his fate as it is about everything else. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An ominous prologue commences this new mystery starring Kinky Friedman as the potty-mouthed private investigator. Referring to Kinky in the past tense, Ratso, one of the Village Irregulars and a would-be Watson to Kinky's Sherlock, begins with the revelation that this, Kinky's seventeenth adventure, will be his final exploit. When the wallet of one of the victims of a series of seemingly unrelated murders turns up in his apartment, the Kinkster is implicated, especially after clues left at the scene of the various crimes reveal that either the killer is the Kinkster or is someone with considerable knowledge of his habits and music. Never known for his love of humanity, the Kinkster is even more morose than usual, though he does show a bit of empathy by pondering the real-life case of Max Soffar, a prisoner on death row in Texas. Will this be the Kinkster's last case? It's hard to say, although, Friedman, like Arthur Conan Doyle before him, may have grown tired of his own creation. ((Reviewed February 15, 2005)) Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews.

The cops think that the Kinkster is doing in all those little New Yorkers. With an eight-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Friedman's comic, semi-autobiographical mystery series apparently comes to an end with this downbeat 18th entry, which, like 2004's The Prisoner of Vandam Street, is suffused with melancholy and loss. Friedman-the-detective is suffering from the disappearance of a close, longtime companion-his cat. When he decides to leave New York City for Texas to escape the doldrums, he's tracked down by a regular nemesis from the NYPD, Det. Sgt. Mort Cooperman, after the wallet of a murder victim, possibly the fourth in a series, turns up in Kinky's apartment. Four more murders occur, with clues again pointing to Friedman once he returns to the Big Apple. While the circle of suspects seems to be limited to his closest associates, suspense is lessened by the unlikelihood that a member of his Village Irregulars has suddenly been transformed into a psychopath. The depressing ending may disappoint some fans expecting the series' trademark laugh-out-loud humor stemming from Friedman's uniquely wry and twisted narrative voice. One can only hope that the author will soon apply his considerable gifts for creating colorful characters and amusing situations to a new series. Agent, David Vigliano. Author tour. (Mar. 8) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.