Gray & Company, Publishers

#6 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .

“The wonderful thing about art is that it doesn't really have to do anything . . . All that is asked of it is that it be beautiful. It doesn't work that way with people.”

So begins a sortie by Cleveland private investigator Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) into the cutthroat world of fine art. A slumming young heiress, April Delavan, hires Milan to find her most recent boyfriend, a potter who has absconded with $18,000 of her trust fund money.

But it doesn't figure that his disappearance would pique the interest of someone like Victor Gaimari, the elegant and affable mob figure with whom straight arrow Milan seems to be developing a love-hate relationship.

Milan soon learns that the former boyfriend may have made a few other enemies, and suddenly, fine art starts looking a little rough around the edges. It turns out truth and beauty don't always mix well—at least in the art business.

Reviews

A corker of a whodunit . . . Gritty, grim, humorous, sentimental—a perfect 10. — Chicago Sun-Times

The characters are vivid, and the plot goes in unusual directions, but ultimately it's Cleveland that captures our hearts. — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Solid entertainment . . . populated with superior characters and snappy dialogue. — The Plain Dealer

Reading Les Roberts' Milan Jacovich mysteries you get to see a lot of Cleveland. The old town is looking good. — New York Times Book Review

Slovenian sleuth Milan Jacovich once again has the run of the city on Lake Erie in this warm-hearted series. Ethnic to the core, loyal to friends, beset by strong views, Jacovich is an opinionated, anachronistic soul. — Publisher's Weekly

About Les Roberts

Les Roberts is the author of 16 mystery novels featuring Cleveland detective Milan Jacovich, as well as 11 other books. 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, a teacher, and a film critic. 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,