Rate this book

Harry Lipkin, Private Eye (2012)

by Barry Fantoni(Favorite Author)

3.02 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0385536100 (ISBN13: 9780385536103)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: This is a fun read when you want something light and breezy -- a summer or bedtime read. The success of the book is carried completely by the main character: who can resist an 87-year-old former cop turned private eye who packs extra dentures along with his pistol? The humor is dry, subtle, and definitely "Jewish," but you don't have to be Jewish to get it. (For those of us who are, however, we can hear our elderly relatives in our mind's ear as Harry goes about his business.) The mystery itself is a bit thin, and there's a twist at the end which is unusual, but I so enjoyed spending time with Harry that I didn't mind. This book was exactly what I needed after a run of more literary novels and memoirs. Good fun, and if there are additional Harry Lipkin novels, I'll r... moreead them.
review 2: This is the second book I've read this year featuring an octogenarian Jewish detective (see also Don't Ever Get Old), and unfortunately, it's the far lesser of the two. The concept of a widowed South Florida retiree plying his trade as private dick isn't a bad one, but the execution is very weak. Simply put, the book fails to deliver is a compelling mystery to solve. The titular Harry just barely has his private eye shingle up at the house that's decaying all around him. One day an ultra-wealthy widow hires him to investigate a string of petty thefts occurring at her mansion. What follows is a something that I supposed is meant to be a homage to a Golden Age mystery, as Harry methodically investigates all the staff: the chauffeur, the Hispanic maid, the Asian butler, the Ethiopian cook, the stoner groundskeeper, etc. However, this never rises in complexity beyond the level of a game of Clue, and in what is an exceedingly rare instance, I correctly guessed the obvious solution very early on -- and it's not a very interesting one. All in all, it's a very slight book, so slight that I can't even recommend it as a light beach read. less

Download links for: Harry Lipkin, Private Eye

Advertising