Beating the Babushka by Tim Maleeny
Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
978-1590588307

Beating the Babushka

A Cape Weathers Mystery

A movie producer hurtles to his death from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, an apparent suicide that shocks the film community and puts a two hundred million dollar production in jeopardy.

When a female colleague comes forward claiming it was murder, the police are skeptical and preoccupied by a sudden drug war that’s erupted between the tong gangs of Chinatown and the mob. They listen to her story and send her packing.

She turns to a private detective named Cape Weathers, who believes her just enough to let her pay his day rate. His conscience is telling him to drop the case when two Russian gangsters show up on his doorstep and tell him to drop it or die. Soon Cape discovers how dangerous the movie business can be when millions of dollars are at stake and putting a price on someone’s head is just another line item in the budget.

Cape and his partner Sally—a female assassin raised by the Triads—take on the Russian mob, a major movie studio, and a recalcitrant police department by enlisting the help of rogue cops, computer hackers and an investigative journalist who just doesn’t give a damn. But with a sniper on their trail, the challenge will be staying alive long enough to find out the truth.

Beating The Babushka is a novel that explores man’s quest for immortality, the price of fame, and the mystery of what happens when Russian mafiya and movie moguls collide.

REVIEWS

Independent Mystery Booksellers top ten bestseller

“The snappy writing and a parallel plot of drug-dealing Italian and Chinese mobsters keeps the pace lively and will resonate with Elmore Leonard fans.”
Publishers Weekly

“Maleeny has kept the promises made with Stealing The Dragon. With an obvious understanding of the traditions of crime fiction, he has created a series that tips the hat as it modernizes the plot line. A plot that sizzles from page one and keeps cooking until the twists at the end. I can’t wait to hear more from the very talented Maleeny.”
Crimespree Magazine

“Maleeny is an entertaining storyteller who combines elements of noir detective fiction with occasional bits of humor to create a character, and a series, of wide, deep and far-reaching appeal. Beating The Babushka goes a long way toward establishing Maleeny as one of the new princes of detective fiction.”
—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter

“The vivid characters further enrich the suspenseful plot, providing a perfect reading experience.”
—Fresh Fiction

“Let’s hope that Cape has many more adventures in him since he feels like the second coming of Travis McGee—just with a kick-ass ninja as a partner.”
—Bruce Grossman, Bookgasm

“I’ve enjoyed the plotting, characters, writing, and humor of the two Cape Weathers novels and Tim Maleeny is on my I’ll-read-anything-he-writes list.”
—Mack Captures Crime

“A new San Francisco treat. San Francisco-based private eye Cape Weathers and his trusty—but deadly—companion Sally, an assassin trained by the Triads, don’t mind taking a hands-on approach to their investigations, in this series that manages to suggest both the quirky characterizations of Elmore Leonard and the take-it-to-the-mat derring-do of Robert Parker.”
—Kevin Burton Smith, Thrilling Detective

“Tim Maleeny’s marvelously satisfying second take on the exploits of his droll San Francisco P.I. Cape and lethal sidekick Sally, is a sophisticated swashbuckler full of derring-do, witty repartee, and hip surprises that make it an intelligent and pleasurable adventure from beginning to end. You won’t want to put it down.”
—Author Robert Fate

“Oh, yeah, Cape Weathers is back and this book is one fine read. Five stars…”
—Bookfetish.org

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