Collision Bend by Les Roberts | Cleveland Books | Gray & Company, Publishers | Guide and Gift Books about Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and Ohio.

Description

#7 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .

Private investigator Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) goes behind the scenes to uncover scandal, ambition, and intrigue at one of Cleveland's top TV stations as he hunts down the stalker and murderer of a beautiful local television anchor.

Milan has just moved his offices to an old building on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in an area called the Flats. There, he receives a surprise visit from a former love interest, Mary Soderberg, who left him for her influential boss, TV executive Steve Cirini. One of their newscasters, the beautiful Virginia Carville, has been murdered, and Cirini, who was having an affair with her, is the chief suspect. Mary wants Milan to bail her cheating boyfriend out of the jam—for old times' sake.

Milan doesn't like Cirini at all, but takes the case even though he's unsure of the man's innocence. Or is the culprit the obsessive station-manager Nicky Scandalios, the longtime anchorwoman Vivian Truscott, or a survivor of child abuse named Violet Grba? For that matter, could it be Milan's old flame Mary Soderberg herself?

Book Excerpt:

Chapter One

Virginia Carville was, as usual, right between my bare feet.

That's because she was the special reporter and sometime coanchor on the eleven o'clock news on Channel 12, and I'm generally lying on my bed when I watch her.

I met her once or twice several years ago when she was an eager college intern at the station and still known as Ginger. It wasn't until after she'd progressed to newswriter and then to full-fledged reporter that she began insisting everyone call her Virginia because it was more dignified.

I opened my feet a little wider, the better to see her, and the side of my foot touched that of Dr. Nicole Archer, neonatologist extraordinaire, from whose bed I was watching the news. My toes are always cold, no matter what the weather, and her bare skin felt good against mine. Warm. Cold toes don't seem to bother her; she murmured softly deep down in her throat and drew a little closer to me without looking up from her book.

Reading and watching the news doesn't sound very romantic, I know. But Nicole and I had been together for ten months and had finally passed beyond that initial fevered leaving-a-trail-of-discarded-clothing-in-our-heated-rush-from-the-frontdoor-to-the-bedroom stage. It was comfortable now.

Virginia Carville was doing what they call in the TV news business a “ stand-up,” this one in front of the control tower at Cleveland Hopkins Airport, which meant little except that she was more visually interesting than someone sitting behind a desk in the studio. She was going on about a commercial plane that had crashed three hundred miles from Hopkins and saying that the liner's “ black box,” which automatically records all flight information, had survived the accident . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews

Roberts is a wordsmith of high order, and Collision Bend is a terrific novel of the mean streets. — Meritorious Mysteries

Former television producer Roberts writes knowingly of the medium; newscaster sleeping with sales manager makes a timely metaphor for the ethics of broadcast journalism. Roberts affectionately weaves in the history and rich ethnic mix of Milan Jacovich's Cleveland turf. — Publisher's Weekly

If John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee lives on, it's in Les Roberts' Milan Jacovich. Like the legendary McGee, Jacovich is a man of principle, a quixotic philosopher, and a gentle giant who's wise, caring, and as confused about life as the rest of us . . . Roberts, who writes some of today's best testosterone-laced PI stories, offers a pithy plot, world-weary but witty dialogue, and an appealing portrait of the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of often-maligned Cleveland. A good choice for all mystery collections. — Booklist

The strengths of this book lie in the simplicity of the story and the delightful writing, plotting, and characterization skills of Les Roberts. — The Plain Dealer

All is low-key perfection. — Kirkus Reviews

About 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,