The Cleveland Connection

A Milan Jacovich Mystery

by Les Roberts

  • Format: Softcover, 296 pages, 5.1 x 8 inches
  • ISBN: 978-1-59851-004-1
  • Price: $13.95
Description

#4 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .

Private investigator Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) is Slovenian-American, but he's familiar with the varied ethnic groups that make up the city of Cleveland. An elderly Serbian man has gone missing, and when his granddaughter suspects foul play, Milan agrees to take up the search.

In the meantime, Milan's good friend, Plain Dealer reporter Ed Stahl, has written a column critical of the gangster element on Cleveland's Murray Hill, and is now being threatened and harassed, which brings Milan into direct conflict with a millionaire garbage hauler and an out-of-town muscle punk named Nello Trinetti.

The Serbs and the Slovenians traditionally don't get along too well, but Milan makes inroads into Cleveland's Serbian community after a shocking murder, eventually coming face-to-face with its unofficial mayor, Lazo Samarzic, an angry and militant man who runs a produce stand in the historic old West Side Market.

Hatreds that have simmered for fifty years eventually explode as Milan Jacovich takes on one of his most challenging cases.

Book Excerpt:
Chapter One

Joe Bradac was the last guy I'd expect to see standing on the threshold of my apartment at nine o'clock on a Monday morning. A cop at the door wouldn't have surprised me; I was once a cop myself, so not only do I have a load of friends on the force, but since becoming a private investigator and security specialist my interests and those of the police department occasionally dovetail— or clash— and Cleveland's boys in blue visit me more often than I'd like. It could have been my landlord knocking— I try to pay my rent by the fifth of the month, but occasionally I forget. Maybe a Jehovah's Witness waving a religious tract at me; in Cleveland Heights, where I have my office in my apartment, they are as ubiquitous as the gray squirrel. Once in a while even a dissatisfied client shows up at the door— things happen, after all. But not Joe Bradac.

Joe Bradac lives with my ex-wife.

Lila and I have one of those amicable divorces that seem to work out better than the marriage ever did. She got the house and car and we split everything else, including custody of my two sons, Milan Junior and Stephen, who are now sixteen and twelve years old respectively. Although they live under her roof, there's rarely a problem when I want to see them.

It wasn't always so; when we first split up Lila could get pretty sticky if I wanted to be with the boys more often than my court-mandated every other weekend. But now she and I talk a few times a week on the phone, we see each other occasionally, and though she's grown more prickly than ever with me . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews
Roberts is one of the best crime writers around, and The Cleveland Connection is his best effort yet. The plot has all the right ingredients-danger, suspense, intrigue, action-in all the right amounts; Milan Jacovich is the kind of guy we want on our side when the chips are down; and Roberts even makes Cleveland sound like a swell place to live. Don't miss this one. (Starred review) — Booklist
Roberts' most ambitious work thus far . . . A potent plot . . . a brave, satisfying story. — Publisher's Weekly
[Roberts] tells his tale in spare and potent prose. His Cleveland stories get better and better, offering far more than regional insights and pleasures. — Publisher's Weekly
There's an affection for Cleveland and an insistence on its ethnic, working-class life that gives vividness to the detection. Roberts writes with sharp wit, creates action scenes that are drawn with flair, and puts emotional life into a range of people. — The Washington Post
Very good and very tough . . . Les Roberts has written an extremely good novel that is well worth reading by all, not just mystery lovers. — Armchair Detective
In Milan Jacovich, Les Roberts has created an ingratiating hero and furnished him with an intriguing case to solve, together with a timely take on what has, for centuries, made the Balkans such a dark and bloody ground. — San Diego Union Tribune
About Les Roberts
Les Roberts

Les Roberts is the author of 14 mystery novels featuring Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, as well as 9 other books of fiction. The past president of both the Private Eye Writers of America and the American Crime Writer's League, he came to mystery writing after a 24-year career in Hollywood. He was the first producer and head writer of the Hollywood Squares and wrote for the Andy Griffith Show, the Jackie Gleason Show, and the Man from U.N.C.L.E., among others. He has been a professional actor, a singer, a jazz musician, and a teacher. In 2003 he received the Sherwood Anderson Literary Award. A native of Chicago, he now lives in Northeast Ohio. More About Les Roberts

Contains References to:

Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Fiction, Cleveland Flats, Cleveland Mysteries, Cuyahoga County, Lake County, Little Italy, Mayfield Road, Milan Jacovich, Severance Hall, Strohs, University Circle,

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