King of the Holly Hop

Milan Jacovich #14

by Les Roberts

#14 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . .
Going to your high school reunion is never fun. But this time, it's murder.
When Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich reluctantly attends the fortieth reunion of his St. Clair High School graduating class, he gets a rude one of his classmates is found shot dead and another quickly becomes the main suspect.
The suspect, successful playwright Tommy Wiggins, draws Milan into the case--and puts him in a very awkward position. Investigating his former schoolmates is an uncomfortable task for Milan, as he soon discovers the dark secrets of people he only thought he knew.
The deceased Dr. Phil Kohn, it turns out, was a cad who managed to make more than a few enemies during his abbreviated life. But did a forty-year-old grudge really lead to his death? Or was it something more recent--a jealous spouse, a shady business partner?
Milan's hunt for the real killer leads him through the oddly intertwined worlds of Cleveland's medical community, organized crime, polite suburban society, and hard-core drug dealers.
It's a tough investigation in which Milan could lose many friends--and, if he's not careful, his life.
In the fourteenth book of his Milan Jacovich series, Les Roberts once again delivers a dose of real Cleveland characters and settings that bring the city to life on the page.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Les Roberts is the author of 15 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 and is a film and literary critic."

Reviews

[Herzog · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a long gap between the last Milan Jacovich and this book. I've always enjoyed this series. The story line was consistent with earlier works. The passing of Don Giancarlo and the budding friendship with McHargue are potential turning points for the series - if it continues.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Class reunions are often far from classy.. well, mostly the alumni. Seems no matter how well planned, something always ruins the event. In this case, it happens to be a murder. Milan Jacovich, our main PI character, is hired to investigate his own reunion's classmate demise. Tethering in TMI from those he last saw 40 years prior gets to be unnerving (and rather surprising) as he questions attendees, one on one, to find who did it and avail who did not.
Milan gets himself knocked into a precarious situation, as he invariably does in his line of work, and ruffles more feathers than he soothes, but he comes out on top in the end.
Roberts is a gifted writer, managing to insert LOL moments in tense situations and engaging the reader so much that his books are often a one night read, albeit a very, very long night.

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! Another Milan Jacovich novel, after a too-long drought. This one is quite different from the other books in the series. Of course, there is still a murder, and Jacovic still getting in over his head. "King of the Holly Hop" is not quite so action-packed and more psychological and reflective. I don't mind this -- indeed, I rather liked it -- but fans of hard-hitting action might be bored. In a nutshell: Milan is at his 40th high school reunion, encountering the friends and "class types" I think we all had going through our school years. One of his classmates is murdered, and Milan is hired by the chief suspect, celebrity Tommy Wiggins, and his lawyer to get Wiggins out of the hot seat. Along the way, Milan discovers things about the murdered man and his school mates that he feels were better left undiscovered.
I'm really curious about one thing: for anyone else who has read this, did you get "whodunit" as fast as I did? From the character's introduction, I was thinking, "you know, I bet that it will turn out that [SPOILERSPOILER] did it." I usually don't get the guilty party that fast (although I have a decent track record for guesses, I suppose) and was wondering if I was just plain lucky or if other readers picked up on it too.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les Roberts's latest book, "The King of the Holly Hop" drops his Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich into a terrifiying setting: his 40th high school reunion. He's only there for a few hours when one of the attendees is found murdered. He is quickly hired by the prime suspect, someone he barely knew in high school. When he starts interviewing the other potential suspects (his entire graduating class), he starts to find out who his real high school friends (and enemies) actually were. Roberts cleverly captures the discomfort and awkwardness of reuniting with the people you spend at least four years of your life with and then don't see for years. Throw into the mix a murder, a pool of suspects with potential motives as diverse as bullying, racism, homophobia, and petty jealousy, with Cleveland as the backdrop, and you have an excellent mystery/thriller, replete with Roberts's trademark humor and social commentary.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Being a mystery lover and from Cleveland, I really enjoy reading this author's Milan Jacovich series.

[Jan Aldergate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Les Roberts. As usual, Cleveland is as much a character as Milan Jacovitch. Little hard to keep track of the numerous characters, but a great read.

[Sally Eldermire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick read that holds your interest. It's always fun to recognize places in a book.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun mystery read with my favorite Cleveland detective.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading through this series by Les Roberts. When I read book #13, there was a one page introduction to this book written by Roberts that revealed he had planned that book #13 would be the end of the series--until this idea came to him unbidden. That might be why some other reviewers mention that there was a long gap between books in the series. Since I am reading these years after Roberts wrote them, I did not have this experience.

I will say it was at first difficult to realize how much time had passed in Milan's life since the last book--apparently years? In book #13, I believe Mrs. Sordetto was still alive to take care of Don Giancarlo D'Alessandro; but in this book she's passed away. Both Milan's children are now adults. The oldest has apparently moved to Chicago in the non-recorded time between books #13 & #14--though we aren't told this until the last third or so of the book.

I didn't necessarily mind that this was different that Roberts's typical Jackovich novel. I do feel bad that Milan seems to have lost so many friends from his high school days as a result of his investigations on behalf of Wiggins. Perhaps we could argue that some weren't really friends anyway, but at least one or two were people he counted as friends and then learned some unsettling things about that either changed his view of them or they changed their view of him.

I felt bad for Booker--apparently mostly forgotten at a VA hospital. I'm sure there are some people like him even now at care facilities.

Jinny's admonition to "make new friends" isn't always so easy when you're an adult. It seems like it's easier to make friends in school or college--perhaps because of shared experiences or clubs or interests. It doesn't seem as easy as we get older.

I do wonder if Roberts is laying the groundwork for another romantic break up for Milan or if Milan will finally have a woman in his life who's not threatened by his way of life.

I also wonder if the Milan Jacovich/Victor Gaimari friendship will continue now that the Don is not part of it. I hope that it does, since the Don seemed to value both men.

[Ann Otto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les Roberts is a Cleveland regional writer with a national following. His detective mysteries are quick reads and his background in acting, Hollywood writing and producing are evident in great plot lines and character development. Although mystery and crime aren't my reading genre, I enjoyed this book about many characters attending a high school reunion and their shared, dysfunctional relationships.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Milan is hired by an attorney to take the heat off his client, one of Milan's high school classmates. He was accused of murdering another classmate at the class reunion. There are a lot of characters in this book making it difficult to follow (keep a list). There are a lot of twists and turns as classmates are interviewed and reveal inner secrets. People Milan thought were his friends have different values and friendships are broken.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing is sadder than revisiting high school at a reunion, especially when a former classmate is murdered and you are retained to clear the most famous of the class for the murder. Things you thought you knew about your classmates turn out not to be true, and as you uncover their pasts, you know you can never go home again. The longer the series goes on, the darker, or rather, the sadder Milan Jacovich's life becomes.

[Casey Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a good baseline story to it. Had a bit too many characters in it for me to keep track of. There was a big gap in years between this Milan book and the previous Milan book. He's almost 60 years old, but still physically kicking peoples asses. LOL

[Laureen Nowakowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les Roberts writes a series of mysteries that take place in Cleveland. He lives in Cleveland Hts and he reviews restaurants and bars he goes to that really exist. He thinks Nighttown is one of the best jazz clubs in the country, and I love that restaurant. Fun!

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it might be time for me to abandon my Les Roberts' hobby and move on to some other authors. This is his worse by far. It's almost as if he was sad and tired when writing this book.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.5

[Cyber Dot · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a high school reunion, the sophomoric revisitation is continued by Jacovich, as he seeks the killer of a former classmate.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this unique hardboiled detective novel, despite not always being a fan of hardboiled detective novels, because I had occasion to meet the author himself at a mystery authors festival. As Les Roberts was signing my book, I got the opportunity to ask him for writing advice, and he was graciously obliging. ("Write. Just write, and don't let anything stop you," has become my favorite new motto; I also appreciated getting official permission to not use an outline if I don't want to!)

I had a vested interest in really enjoying the book he'd signed for me, and desperately hoped I would. And it wasn't a foregone conclusion; after desperately wanting to fall in love with Jane Lindskold's "Thirteen Orphans" after hearing the author give a remarkable speech at a library conference. Alas, I had to admit defeat after getting sixty pages into the book and still stuck waiting for something to _happen_.

So I'm delighted to say that I found Milan Jacovich to be that most unique of characters -- a hardboiled PI who has enough originality to his character that I actually go through the book caring about him. He's complex, three-dimensional -- and utterly heartbreaking, at least in this particular book (although not in a sad-sap kind of way). This particular novel in the series (I believe it's 14th) piqued my interest because the action kicks off at Milan's high school reunion (and I'm a sucker for high school reunion stories, what can I say). This seemed like a fun premise, and it was -- but it also led to awkwardness, embarrassment, conflict of interest, and Milan discovering things he wished he hadn't about his friends and classmates. Relationships are irrevocably altered and people's truer selves are ultimately revealed. Which, y'know, is exactly the sort of character arcs that make me dig reunion stories in the first place, so that was pretty much perfect.

I will definitely be picking up more titles in this series, as well as other of Roberts's books.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roberts does an excellent job of introducing you to the plot and all of the key characters in the first chapter. I finished it with a grin, as it looked like a preview of a coming reunion.

A doctor is killed at a 40th high school reunion and everyone who was at the soiree is a suspect, including Mylan Jacovich (pronounced MY-lan Yock-o-vitch), much to the delight of Cleveland police. The book has a universal theme, at least to anyone who's facing a high school reunion after more than 15 years (the 10-year reunion doesn't count because everyone is still establishing career and family).

By mid-book you'll have your own lead suspect. And knowing how the slights of high school carry over to adulthood, you know that if there were a murder at your own reunion, the killer would be a classmate.

Roberts, who went to school in the 1960s in Chicago, does a good job of catching the tenor of those race-charged years. He only misses how smitten Cleveland was with the music of Motown. The local color is perfect, with restaurants and other local institutions of the Forest City. He even mentions Mitchell's Candy, the leading confectioner of Cleveland Heights since the 1950s. Billy Mitchell, like me, celebrates his 40th high school reunion soon and hopefully it will go smoother than it did for "The King of the Holly Hop".

[james · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milan Jacovich is a former Cleveland police officer who has morphed into a private detective. The book opens with MJ attending his 40th high school reunion. He's not having a great time but suddenly there is a big argument between two attendees over events that occurred 40 years ago. Later that evening one of the disputants is discovered shot to death. The other is obviously the prime suspect. The latter hires a lawyer who then hires MJ to investigate.

The problem for the police is that their first path to discovering the identity of the murderer is usually to find someone with a motive, and they learn that practically everyone hated the deceased.

This is a good, fast paced read, which I recommend, especially for those who like to attend high school reunions.

[Chad Malkamaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

On second read, the rating stays about the same. Not one of the best in the series, it was a return to this character after a period of years. The second round of the Milan series has changes, our PI is older, not wiser, his sons are hardly a part of his life, and the cases rate as a mere meh. There is another concussion for our good guy and he's tased a couple of times, but going through the lives of his classmates after a killing at their class reunion seemed like a mid-season boring episode of a network show that is forced to have 20 some episodes and there's going to be a slog along the way.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Milan Jacovich attends his 40th high school reunion, the last thing he expects to find is a dead body. Unfortunately, one of his classmates is found dead, and another classmate wants Milan's help in finding the murderer. Could Milan be looking at a 40-year-old grudge?

This is the 14th book in the series featuring Milan Jacovich. He may be getting older, but he is still a cagey, fascinating character who continues to develop in each story. The author also brings the city of Cleveland to life for readers new and old. Highly recommend.

[Julie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough for what it is, hard boiled detective story. However, not as good as some of his others. The detective goes to his high school reunion, murder ensues, and he is hired to find the real killer keep a former classmate from being arrested. Too much time is spent going over and over the revelations that the high school friends aren't the great folks that he remembered from his youth. As if this is news. Or maybe it is just that I'm not crazy about either high school or reunions thereof.

[R.L. Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just "OK". It was an interesting story, but I found it hard to "identify" with any of the characters. I also thought there was too much emphasis on "aging"--that is, the characters were portrayed as being past their prime, which is a topic that I don't like to dwell on. I liked the other Les Roberts books that I've read better than this one.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les Roberts brings back his Cleveland PI, Milan Jaovich (That Mi-Lan), for an 11th outing and sends him to his high school reunion. Somebody dies and Milan must navigate his own relationships as he works the case.

[MB]

Had a hard time getting into it, re-started and renewed 3 times. But once I got going it was just as good as all his others. I look forward to the next one and always enjoy the Cleveland references.

[Jjanovyak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, Cleveland. The city's always the real star in a Milan Jacovich book. This most recent entry in the series (how did I miss it? It's been out a year and a half already!) does not disappoint.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book. Another good Milan Jacovich mystery. Always based in Cleveland. Murder at a class reunion. Good story.

[Andrew Welsh-Huggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agatha Christie in the Rust Belt

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Jacovich series, and always look forward to the next one!