After 7 Years, MAYHEM Returns

LOST HOMICIDAL MANIAC (ANSWERS TO "SHIRLEY") by Jeff Strand (2011 / 175 pp / eBook)


The long-awaited 4th novel in Strand's Andrew Mayhem series finds Mayhem and his wife receiving news that they're about to become parents for the third time...only with triplets!  His partner Roger is finally thinking of proposing to his girlfriend on the day the bumbling duo open their own business, 'A/R Tasks & Investigations.'  That's right folks: Andrew and Roger have now gone legit in the attempt to officially try to help people who need their unusual problems solved.


The first day in the new office is slow, so the boys reluctantly take on an unrelated odd job to get the cash flow started. Tired, and just before they close for the day, a woman comes in seeking their help.  She claims that she might be a serial killer, and convinces Andrew and Roger to take her case.  They follow her to an abandoned house where she thinks--in her blacked-out states--she has killed people and buried their body parts.  Not wanting to run away if she snaps, she also convinces Andrew to handcuff himself to her as Roger begins digging under the floor boards.


From this point, it doesn't take long for the mayhem to get going..  LOST HOMICIDAL MANIAC then goes into a relentless, slapstick pace full of goons, killers, over-the-top violence, Strand's trademark sarcasm, and plenty of laughs.  One scene involving an old woman, a car chase, and hundreds of bullets had me in stitches (anyone who has read a Strand novel knows he has a way of making you laugh at the sickest, most insane things imaginable).  There's also a cameo that hardcore Mayhem fans will get a real kick out of.


Fans of the series will love seeing the boys back in action, as well as an old foe return for revenge.  Here's hoping we don't have to wait seven more years until the fifth adventure...