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The Emerald Lizard : a Neal Rafferty mystery
Book
1991
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Fiction/Biography Profile
Characters
Neal Rafferty (Male), Private investigator, Single, Ex-police detective
Genre
Mystery
Southern fiction
Fiction
Topics
Murder investigations
Love affairs
Revenge
Setting
New Orleans, Louisiana - South (U.S.)
Time Period
1990s -- 20th century
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
Private investigator Neal Rafferty's third case ( The Killing Circle , J. Curley, 1989; A Diamond Before You Die , Mysterious Pr., 1987) arises when he answers a distress call from Jackie Silva, a former lover who now runs a lounge near New Orleans. Rafferty learns of her unpaid debt to a local shady operator, threats to her life and property, the several men unrequitedly in love with her, and, finally, her murder and the destruction of her bar. Amidst detailed descriptions of New Orleans and its inhabitants, and fired by the involvement of his best friend's fiancee, Rafferty zeroes in on the criminals in this exciting mixture of romance and action. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
In his third appearance, two facts help likable, savvy New Orleans private eye Neal Rafferty solve this fast-paced, baffling mystery: 1) during recent hard times in the Louisiana oil patch, shylocks were charging 50% interest; and 2) before the ban on commercial fishing of redfish, the price was soaring in response to the national craze for the blackened delicacy. Against this background, promiscuous, manipulative Jackie Silva is killed and her Emerald Lizard lounge in seedy Westwego, a West Bank suburb unvisited by tourists, is torched. Jackie had complained that fisherman-mobster Bubba Brevna was threatening to have her tongue cut out unless she coughed up some of the money she owed him. Just kidding, Brevna tells Rafferty, but the investigator, who lost his virginity to Jackie at age 16, targets him and other swains of Jackie, not neglecting Brevna's hulking, moronic nephew, nicknamed Godzilla by the string of whores he runs for his uncle. Wiltz ( A Diamond Before You Die ) brings a story suffused with love for her hometown to a smashing, stormy climax. More, please. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
New Orleans investigator Neal Rafferty returns for his third case. Former lover Jackie Silva calls him. It seems she's the owner of the Emerald Lizard, a bar on the wrong side of town. Jackie began the business with the help of loan shark Bubba Brevna. But times are tough, business is down, and payments are hard to make. Bubba's mad. Could Neal talk to Bubba, for old times' sake? Bubba assures Neal that he's not violent and has been cooperating with Jackie. Then Jackie is murdered and the Lizard burned down. The law and Bubba think Rafferty had a hand in it, so he's busy avoiding two manhunts while finding the real killer. The atmosphere, plot, and characters are all credible, and Rafferty is a genuinely engaging, three-dimensional hero. ~--Wes Lukowsky
Kirkus Review
New Orleans p.i. Neal Rafferty (The Killing Circle, A Diamond Before You Die) crosses the river to Westwego to answer a call for help from old girlfriend Jackie Silva. Jackie's bar, The Emerald Lizard, has been financed by self-styled fisherman Bubba Brevna, who's been threatening her since she got behind in her payments. And you don't want to get threatened by Bubba, whose enforcers include the Impastato brothers and towering Rodney Nutley, a.k.a. Godzilla, ""the nation's first brain transplant."" The night Neal goes to see Bubba, The Emerald Lizard bums to the ground--by the same device used to bum a neighboring place a few months before--and next day Jackie turns up dead. Brutish cop Delbert Dietz pulls in Jackie's ineffectual, death-haunted husband Larry, but Neal doesn't have to look far for more likely suspects. In addition to Bubba and his goons, there's Jackie's sharp-eared bartender Jeff Bonage; barhopping cowboy Clem Winkler; rival lounge-manager/bookie Mave Scoggins; gentle neighboring cop Aubrey Wohl's wife Pam, who's stuck on Larry; and Nears own friends--workaholic lawyer Maurice; Maurice's new girlfriend Nita Greene, who photographs hookers; and Neal's own current lover, tigerish Diana DiCarlo. Think they can't all be involved in this twisted tale? Think again. Neal is as fine a knight-errant/narrator as you could want, but this case is a mess, with enough ill-assorted felonies to land the whole cast in the slammer (where most of them belong). When will Neal get a plot as good as he is? Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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