An enjoyable first mystery in a new series by Richard Yancey. Our protagonist is your everyday guy, dreaming his life away in a night-watchman's job for fourteen years. When he "lucks into money," he fulfills his childhood dream and hangs up his PI shingle in downtown Knoxville.

I loved this book for it's humanness. Teddy Ruzak, Investigative Consultant, is funny and sad all at once. Watching his first case unravel is like watching a train wreck. The the dialogue is real, and the humor sublime. I am looking forward to the sequel, due in August '08.

The author makes some minor chronology errors, which do not affect the outcome of the mystery. Hopefully, he and his editor will clean that up in future books. ( )

Teddy Ruzak decides to open a detective agency in Knoxville, TN. Although his first case (finding out who ran over some baby ducks) seems rather flimsy, a murder ensues and Teddy is in the thick of it, despite the fact that his detecting skills seem minimal at best. Some interesting secondary characters, such as a waitress-turned-secretary who misses lots of work and an old woman who confesses to crimes she reads about in the newspaper, add to the overall enjoyment of this first novel in what will hopefully become a series. I was initially drawn to this novel because the Knoxville setting is my hometown, but I will go back for seconds and thirds if Teddy Ruzak has further detecting adventures. ( )