The Houseboat Murders

Naked corpses are found on a rental houseboat. There¿s a Hollywood connection a drug ring connection a crooked cop among the investigators and a killer hiding where no one would look. It could be an unsolvable crime¿until an alcoholic ex-deputy and his son join the hunt¿and the hunted. ¿Not your garden-variety detective story.¿¿Clark Kent Daily Planet ¿An unpredictable compelling read for mystery fans. The inclusion of an upscale high school and its denizens provides a fresh and welcome change from the ghettos and drug dens we¿ve come to expect.¿¿Hazings Review ¿Gripping¿plausible¿skillfully structured¿eminently satisfying.¿¿Tinseltown Times ¿Take a deceptive killer with a flawless plan add one guilt-ridden has-been detective a ruthless drug lord a cop on the take and some self-absorbed teenagers. You get a thoroughly entertaining suspenseful yarn that sucks you in like a shop vac¿.¿¿Stephanie Plump Criminologist An unusual detective novel blends genres and clichés to create a suspenseful likeable story. Wagner embeds a Hardy Boys-esque teen mystery within the more complex frame of a seaside mystery a la Carl Hiaasen or John D. MacDonald but he doesn't fully embrace either genre¿an unusual literary tactic that works surprisingly well. While The Houseboat Murders could have been a passé after-school special blown out to Hollywood proportions the odd turn of events hidden within the straightforward structure rescues it from mediocrity. ¿A¿ for effort with bonus points for originality -Kirkus Discoveries