Mike Jastrzebski

"Key Lime Blues" is a light-hearted private investigator mystery story that pays homage to Travis McGee by being placed in the paradise of key West, Florida, and pays homage to Ed Noon by adding in hilarious touches such as psychics named Elvis. It is a story of a reluctant detective, who now tends bar in Dirty Alvin's, and who is stuck in the middle of an investigation involving a stripper, a gang of hoods, a missing set of diamonds, and bodies that keep washing up.

It is a fast read that show more is filled with light banter when the hoods aren't
hunting down the protagonist and his charge. The lead character, Wes Darling, is a guy who explains that, when he worked for his mother's PI firm, his drug of choice was Prozac, but since moving to Key West
amidst quitting the business, found that key lime pie works just as well. He just never felt comfortable with dealing with the deceit, the dead bodies, and the cops. He was also haunted by a case he was
involved in where a fifteen-year-old kidnap victim met her demise.

According to his mother, he was "the result of a wild weekend in Acapulco with a Vietnam vet who suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder." Wes' mother is also an intriguing character with a deep, raspy voice, the product of smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, and can swear "like a sailor doused in rum."

The missing stripper here is Destiny, a six-foot tall red-headed Amazon who Wes couldn't possibly forget. She might be gorgeous, but she was also a little nuts, that is, if you think leaving a set of diamonds with a psychic who fancied himself as the return of Elvis nuts. show less

Because I'm familiar with Mike Jastrzebski's writing and his blog WriteOnTheWater.com, I downloaded Dog River Blues (A Wes Darling Mystery) fully expecting a nonstop adventure. I also looked forward to the general backdrop of sailing off the Florida--or, in this case, Alabama--coast, and an engaging hero in the person of Wes Darling, who lives on his sailboat, Rough Draft.

What I didn't expect, though, was the beauty of the language, the way Jastrzebski took me to the Mobile marina ("as the show more anchor chain was dragged up from the water it made a loud rattling sound that reminded me of an angry castle ghost in a B movie") or a parking lot ("buried in a misty cocoon...cars moved in and out of focus like spectral derelicts in an ocean of opaque fleece") or a, perhaps, abandoned motel room ("soft light cast a glow on the shaded window like Tinkerbell searching for the lost boys").

I loved this book--not just for where it took me, but for where it made me afraid of going. Happily, Wes Darling--as he, albeit unwillingly, explores the secrets his estranged family has kept long-hidden--is made of sterner stuff. show less

This was a pretty quick read and overall was pretty interesting. The storyline was decent. Wes Darling tries to find out about his family history and helps his newly discovered family with a problem. The characters were fun and interesting. The only thing that kept it from getting a higher rating from me was the ending was choppy. At first I thought the ending was too brief and it would never be resolved". Then I felt like it dragged out and would never end. It finally did wrap up and I show more could live with it. I'll probably continue the series." show less

If you like your PI a bit clueless, this is your guy. Not to worry--he fortunately never comes up against anyone very clever. It was difficult to care much about his romantic involvement with either woman, or about the quest. The thief and his henchman were dumb as bricks. Darling spends a lot of time feeling tired and "blue." Small wonder; I felt the same. A book like this is frustrating because the author is obviously talented. There's simply nothing to really sink your teeth into, nothing show more to haunt you, nothing to make you think. He could have done so much more with this... show less