Last year about this time, I discovered this very entertaining "Monkeewrench" series - and felt bad that I'd missed earlier issues. Missing out, I vowed, wouldn't happen again. Happily, I learned about this one and was delighted to once again be approved by the publisher (via NetGalley) for an advance review copy. And I've got to say I enjoyed this one even more. In large part, that's because it's a really good story; it's also true that I'm more familiar with the very likable characters - some of them with quirky names like Harley Davidson and Roadrunner - and therefore never encountered any "Whoa, where did that come from?" feelings. Monkeewrench, you see, is a Minneapolis-based software development company that specializes in security. One of the partners, Grace, is married to Minneapolis Detective Leo Magozzi (a rather unlikely couple); together, they have an infant daughter.
At the police department, a psychic named Blanca Szabo insists on speaking with Magozzi. An unknown woman, she insists, is about to be murdered. Shift focus to a beautiful woman, Kelly Ramage, an arm-candy wife to a rich but unfeeling old codger; she's off to meet a friend for the evening, or so she claims - dressed to kill.
Or more accurately, to be killed. Magozzi and his trusty team are called in to begin the investigation, not quite believing that Kelly was the about-to-die woman Blanca had envisioned. The trail leads to a local art gallery and the sadistic but wildly popular works of a reclusive artist named Rado. Meanwhile, enter another character as readers get a look at Petra Juric, a historian and researcher who's come to Minneapolis, surreptitiously looking for a man with a lurid past.
Are these characters somehow connected? Can the computer experts at Monkeewrench find clues that will help the detectives find the killer before he or she kills again? I'll give you a couple of hints: The answer to the first question is yes; and to the second, yes and no. More than that, you'll just have to read for yourself. Loved this one - great fun!
Ice Cold Heart by P.J. Tracy (Crooked Lane Books, September 2019); 320 pp.
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