Rod Hoisington

Feisty, smart and sassy, Sandy Reid has traded in her whiplash field investigations for the courtroom...or has she? She has recently passed the bar and is now a criminal lawyer, but no staid lawyer is she. Retaining her voracious appetite for the truth, she turns the world of law on its ear.

Rod Hoisington's latest mystery all begins with a more or less routine phone call from a woman to Martin, Sandy's partner, the lawyer she "rents a desk from". He passes the arranged meeting with the show more client over to Sandy to deal with. Martin likes his cases to be simple and civil and meeting an unidentified woman with husband troubles after dark wasn't something he wanted to take on. Unfortunately, when Sandy finds the woman, she has a bullet hole in her forehead. From that moment on, matters go from bad to worse as she is taken away, cuffed, by the police. No residue is found on her hands, but Sandy sees a fair-sized blood stain on the back of her hand, wondering why no one has mentioned it. It makes her feel connected somehow to this woman she only met in death, as though it is a plea for help. Apparently she is the only one who can see it. She must also admit to touching, in fact to picking up an envelope from the woman's lap, and though she immediately put it back, she knows this is going to go badly for her. Sandy just can't keep out of the way of her old nemesis State Attorney Lawrence Moran and his ongoing vindictiveness toward her. She made the unforgivable mistake of proving him wrong when they first met. Now, on what should be a misdemeanor, he is going to do everything in his power to have her disbarred, and power is something he has in spades. On the other hand, Sandy has a few tricks up her sleeve, too, including Martin, who is well-versed in the law, and her current beau Det. Chip Bogard, with all his police knowledge, background and friends.

Enter the perennial party-goers Jenna and Brad, long-time friends of Martin, and he is introduced to Prissy, a dressed-down somewhat shapeless but nice-looking woman who zeroes in on him with lust and moneybags in her eyes. Though these people do not appear to have anything to do with the murdered woman, you just never know about people. What it does provide at this point is romantic entertainment for Martin, and the timing is right because he has just hired a caretaker for his father suffering from Alzheimers, giving Martin some worry-free freedom.

As it turns out, this seemingly innocuous "marital dispute" death, simple and sad, is more than it seems and will have global ramifications. Sandy will have proven herself once again, getting shot up in the process, one tough cookie, but fun as well. As Sandy might say to Moran "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!", or probably not quite in those words. Another great Sandy Reid mystery from Rod Hoisington. He just gets better and better. This well-written story was very fast-paced, thrilling, sexy and funny by turns. I really enjoyed it. show less

A very creative and enjoyable first novel, Rod Hoisington has created a complicated whodunit with red herrings to spare. At the basic root we have the remaining two members of a family, a brother and sister, who have had no real contact since the day their parents died several years ago. In fact, sister Sandy is living her well-ordered life quite satisfactorily, thank you, doing legwork for a highly respected law office. A late night call brings her brother Raymond back into her life like a show more slap in the face, she has all but disowned him and the call is like a blast of ice. He is calling from a Florida jail in a small town, with a murder rap hanging over his head. Sandy is determined that in no way is she going to help him, she is still too angry about his lack of support for her when she needed it.

A quick look at the News, and she starts to get second thoughts. Too many questions, Ray is not the type to murder anyone, much less a high-profile Senator. Confusion reigns as she arrives to find her brother being railroaded through the system so that State Attorney Moran can win a famous trial whether his "held in custody" suspect is guilty or not. Moran is ignoring the many other possible suspects and zeroing in on his target, creating a case for conviction. A stranger in town? What a break for him, everyone will hate this guy Ray for assassinating their Senator!

From this point on, there are misunderstandings, misdirections, underestimations, especially underestimating Sandy, a pit-bull in a sexy body. Ludicrous statements and outright lies are flying everywhere. Not only are there lots of twists in the case itself, but in the many strange relationships that show up here and there throughout. This book is written almost tongue-in-cheek and I loved it. It grabs hold of you early on and you can't get away from it. The action suddenly takes off with a few diverse leads and builds very quickly toward the final setups, lies and implausibilities that give the reader a sense of fun and satisfaction as the story finally wraps up all the loose ends, finding more to deal with than meets the eye. I will definitely be looking for another novel by Rod Hoisington! show less

Blockbuster beginning to this latest of the adventures of Sandy Reid. Blocked in by an SUV and a truck, her little Miata convertible doesn't have a chance, nor does Sandy. She realizes too late that this isn't just a traffic jam. She is being abducted, blindfolded and duck-taped across her mouth. Meanwhile, her law partner and boyfriend Chip, are waiting for her to celebrate winning a very large lawsuit, $400,000 in fact, half of which is coming to Sandy. On the other hand, the abductors show more want to relieve her of all of that money.

Taken to the swamps of Florida, kneeling in muck still unable to see or speak, with a gun against the back of her head, Sandy is just waiting for the final moment. But it isn't her that will be killed if she doesn't get them the money, it is Chip and it is within two days. Rod Hoisington certainly knows how to get the reader's attention.

On her release from her captors it's off and running for Sandy as she frantically tries to round up the money with her law partner, co-recipient of the award, while at the same time trying to solve who "Dick and Jane", who take great care to not be seen, are. Of course, Sandy is one tough cookie, and she is determined to solve the crimes of abduction and extortion, but finds herself blocked in every direction. But getting the money and placing it in almost plain view is not the best plan in her mind, and soon it is clear it was the worst possible plan. Because there is now a dead body and the money is gone.

Warned off from investigating as usual, of course she will not leave it up to the law! This is too important, if "Dick and Jane" didn't get the money, Chip has only hours to live. Where first there seem to be no leads, soon she racks up too many in her panic. With her lawyer partner and friend Martin trying to keep her safe, he has his hands mighty full.

Rod Hoisington knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats. A unexpected and sudden loss, some hilarious confusion, dead bodies, and a little help from the police, all are packaged into a bundle of too many strings, but with her cop friends, Martin her professional partner, almost diametrically different in character, and her own out-of-the-box methods, one finally pulls the right string. Great surprise ending! Are there changes in store? I couldn't put the book down, and it's not often that I will read a book at one go. Intriguing 5th installment of the Sandy Reid series, one of the best. show less

Law clerk leaves Philadelphia and heads to Florida to help her brother who is being railroaded for the murder of a senator. She runs into a lot of good old boy threats about butting into a police investigation 'we do things differently down here,' forcing her reply 'have you heard of the Constitution?' when she starts investigating the murder to help his defense lawyer.