January 1, 2004
Las Vegas PI Charlee Champagne has an Elvis impersonator for a father. Her mother, Bubbles Champagne, a dancer with the Folies Bergere, died when she was young, leaving Charlee to be raised by her grandmother, Maybelline. Charlee's funny, flip, and fearless--except when she's around black widow spiders and handsome men. Investment banker Mason Gentry falls handily into the last category. He bursts into Charlee's life with the announcement that his grandfather has taken half a million dollars from their company, and he thinks that the senior Gentry might be with Maybelline. They go to her grandmother's ransacked trailer, and soon find themselves dodging bullets and being followed by thugs. But neither the hired muscle nor a memorable episode of mistaken identity can deter them from finding their grandparents. A by-the-book banker and a book-them-any-way-you-can detective find out that of all the calamities life throws at them, love can be the most dangerous of all. With a sassy, in-your-face style, reminiscent of Janet Evanovich, Wilde has created an unforgettable heroine.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)