Genre: Mystery/Humor
Description:
Trevor and Sandra are running a detective agency, but it’s not doing
too well, they’re just about out of funds. When Trevor’s latest assignment goes
off the rails and he ends up in hospital he jumps at the offer of a seemingly
simple baby-sitting job in Greece.
But when the baby he’s looking after is a seventy year old ex-con
called Ingleby with a dubious sense of humour whom everyone seems to be after
for one reason or another suddenly the job isn’t so easy after all. And when
someone tries to frame Trevor and Sandra by leaving various body parts in their
van and freezer, life gets even more complicated.
Author:
Rob Johnson worked as an administrator and publicist for touring theatre
companies before turning his hand to writing plays. Then the author undertook a
series of jobs. He now lives in Greece. Heads
You Lose is the author’s second novel.
You can learn more about the author at his website.
Appraisal:
Heads You
Lose is the follow up to Lifting the
Lid and picks up pretty much where the other left off. That being said it
is relatively stand alone and it’s not entirely necessary to read the first
novel (but you’re missing out if you don’t).
It takes a little time to get going, with Sandra and Trevor going
through the process of leaving England, but once they end up in Greece and the
other protagonists are in place it really motors.
Johnson excels at setting up multiple story arcs and inter-weaving
them in increasingly intriguing and amusing ways. In this case a couple of
ex-cons are looking for the third man, the guy who got away with the proceeds
of the robbery the trio was involved in. Trevor and Sandra are bystanders.
However in parallel Donna is trying to get revenge for her husband’s
death (an event in the previous novel). She blames Trevor and Sandra. Here
Ingleby is the by-stander, but each arc affects the other. Throw in some local
cops and this is a highly entertaining, well-constructed screwball comedy that
is as enjoyable as it is well written. It ranks alongside Declan Burke’s work
in terms of quality.
To say any more would ruin the story, I strongly recommend you give it
a try.
FYI:
Added for
Reprise Review: Heads You
Lose was a nominee in the Humor category for B&P 2015 Readers' Choice
Awards. Original review ran January 26, 2015
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
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