Review: Mystery employing an unusual substance and a not particulary likeable 'hero'.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2012
Kiss of the Devil's Breath ISBN 139781466254616, e-book by Lawrence Kelter is unique in the fact that it introduces use of a substance in the plot that, in many years of reading, I have not previously encountered in the mystery genre.The story is set in Los Angeles County where Frank Mango, a short, grossly overweight, Italian PI, lives in a small two bedroom house  with Carla, his thin Irish girlfriend who is a cook in a local restaurant. He is not particularly affluent but drives a jaguar that is his most treasured object.Frank is hired by a beautiful young woman, Amy Lloyd, to find her missing sister Maggie. Her concern results from the fact that two young women recently have been murdered. As Frank wheels around town in his investigative efforts, he meets a number of characters in both the seamier and more exclusive areas of the county. Most of them are associated in some manner with the Hollywood Motion Picture action. There is Keynote, a formerly respected Senator who is now a drunk living in a hotel populated by junkies and prostitute. Elmore Potter, a transplanted, well-to-do but bored 29-year-old with a mission. Sin, his porno-producing girlfriend who lives in a studio that overlooks the theatre where the imminent Academy Awards are to take place.  Mike Cohen, a police officer. Paula Henry, his partner of two years. Taft, a top producer and Bartholomew Spode, his hated rival, Sapp, a former laboratory tech and Bondo, who is into everything.I believe readers will enjoy Kelter's story. The action moves along at an accelerated pace, the plot has a very interesting twist and, as stated earlier, he introduces use of an unusual substance. A cautionary note might be offered for the sensitive reader - although totally in character, verbalization is raunchy, at best. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, award winning fiction/non-fiction author.