The Irish Sports Pages

A Milan Jacovich Mystery

by Les Roberts

  • Format: Softcover, 288 pages, 5.1 x 8 inches
  • ISBN: 978-1-59851-013-3
  • Price: $13.95
Description

#13 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .

A slick con man, posing as a recent immigrant from County Mayo all alone in America, is preying on the clannish loyalties of the Irish community in Cleveland for gifts, money, and other less tangible treats. When Common Pleas Judge Maureen Hartigan realizes she's been bamboozled, she and her daughter, Cathleen, hire private eye Milan Jacovich (it's pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovitch) to chase down the swindler.

But the con man turns up dead in a skanky motel room, and Milan finds himself tangled in the world of the local Irish godfather, Con McCardle, who is connected with the IRA.

Milan also finds himself once again face-to-face with Cathleen Hartigan, an old flame that never quite kindled. Their own feelings clash with the more urgent need to solve a murder.

Milan learns a lot about Irish customs and cultures— including “ the Irish sports pages.”

Book Excerpt:
Chapter One

On this particular evening, longtime leading morning-radio personality John Lanigan, of the Lanigan and Malone Show on WMJI, was looking at his reflection in the enormous circular art deco mirror behind the bar and chatting with flame-haired Melanie, who is something of a bartending legend around here because of her killer martinis. The air crackled.

After I'd said hello to them both, I was led down a wide hallway into the main dining room, where Cathleen Hartigan awaited me for our dinner engagement. She was far and away the most elegant-looking woman in the place.

I didn't spot her immediately, because she'd been seated in a little alcove to the left of the entrance, her back to the soft gray wall, and when I approached and she raised her face for a kiss, it fell into that limbo of something more than a hello kiss and something less than anything else. I wondered if any of her lipstick had been transferred to my mouth during the exchange.

“ You look sensational,” I said . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews
[A] roller coaster ride of a mystery . . . Roberts speeds the reader through an investigation offering plenty of delicious twists and turns without ever compromising credibility. — Publisher's Weekly
Typically entertaining: plotting, characterization, and setting dovetail into an excellent reading experience for mystery fans. Jacovich is tough and intelligent and possesses enough self-awareness to make him very good company indeed. Heartily recommended. — Booklist
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:

Cleveland Author, Cleveland Flats, Cleveland Mysteries, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press, Cuyahoga County Courthouse, Cuyahoga River, Elyria, Lanigan and Malone, Milan Jacovich, Nighttown, Slovenian Americans, Stroh's

Other books by Les Roberts:
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