Hot Rocks

Beth Bowman P.I. #1

by Randy Rawls

South Florida private eye Beth Bowman's latest philandering-husband case has ended with a nasty bump on the head and a smoking gun―her own. The good news is that neurologist Dr. David Rassmussen is keeping the cops off her tail...and charming her off her feet. The bad news? An ill-mannered thug is trying to turn Bowman into a permanent hood ornament. Setting out to find the "client" who set her up, Bowman gets friendly with the hunky Dr. Rassmussen―and gets unfriendly with a couple of ne'er-do-well thugs for hire. As her investigation takes her closer to an enticing stash of high-priced ice, it's up to Bowman and an army of guardian street people to save her reputation and her life. "[Rawls's] new heroine is a keeper who will hopefully be investigating lots more criminal shenanigans on her Florida home turf."― Mystery Scene "Readers will be reminded of the older Robert B. Parker detective novels where the P.I.s were wise beyond their years, dressed like 'dandy's, and were good with their fists when reading this novel. Why? Because the author has done a fine job of putting the fun and humor back into the very cool mystery genre!"― Suspense Magazine "With sassy repartee, witty narrative and quirky characters, Randy Rawls gives readers a fun, yet suspenseful read in Hot Rocks ."― Fresh Fiction

Genres: Mystery, Crime

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Lois Crockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Delightfully Plucky Romp

Beth Bowman, P.I., is nobody’s fool and nobody’s chump. She takes a licking and keeps on ticking, even a prime bachelor doctor keeps on his toes to keep up with this plucky lady. With a coterie of unlikely suspects and a few very likely miscreants, Rawls stirs up a read that’ll keep a reader turning pages far into the night.

[Susan Sarabasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

full of twists and turns

I enjoyed this book, up to a point. The last third was mostly gore and gunshots. I’d like to see more creative thinking on the PI’s part and less male posturing and shooting.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to give this 3 stars, but it's a low 3. This book wasn't what I expected, but I guess that's not the author's fault. For some reason, I thought this was going to be a cozy mystery, and it most definitely isn't. I might have been thrown off by the woman PI protagonist. Or maybe just that the book was on the same lists as many cozies. But, this was a much more hard-boiled detective story, with quite a lot of violence thrown in for good measure.

PI Beth Bowman stumbles upon (or better said, is thrust into) a larger mystery than she signed up for when the possibly cheating husband she is hired to spy on is killed and she is knocked out in the process. Since the police initially suspect her of the murder, she decides that she can't trust them and therefore goes on to try to figure the mystery of who assaulted her--and who seems to still be after her.

I was annoyed, as I often am, with this lack of cooperation with the police. Many times, she goes into ridiculously dangerous circumstances. And the outcomes are quite unbelievable. Beth basically manages to take down some really bad guys, and I just didn't buy it.

In the end, the story was fine. I'm not really all that interested in seeking out other books from this series, though.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Private investigator Beth Bowman is following the trail on what she initially thought was a client’s cheating husband. Next thing that happens she is knocked out, then wakes up next to the body of her subject—and pegged by the police for murder.

Very intense, but a lot of humor as well. David, the ER doctor who treats the bump on her head becomes more than a viable love interest. David, as well as a bar owner Bob and a network of the homeless Bob has helped, rally around Beth as she tries to clear her name, exposing a bigger crime of mob proportions. Good read for Stephanie Plum fans; Beth and her cohorts may have you laughing out loud at times while keeping you on the edge of your seat.

[PopcornReads - MkNoah · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something about Florida that seems to lend itself to quirky novels. Maybe it’s being out in all that extreme heat and humidity too long. When I saw Hot Rocks by Randy Rawls, it looked like it just might fall into that category and I was in the mood for some quirky reading so I snapped it up. It wasn’t quite as quirky as I’d hoped, and it was still a fun read. I believe this is Book #1 in a new series by Rawls, his first one featuring a female PI. If you like light, entertaining detective mysteries that have a South Florida vibe to them then read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=4878.

[Patti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not what I was looking for. It was supposed to be a female PI mystery. It ended up being a competition between the female PI and the bad guys in who could get at the other one best. I wish I'd quit this one instead of reading the whole book.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Ellie Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

started off a little ridiculous & ended up a lot ridiculous, but it was so much fun.