Over the Curb

and George McClelland. *From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen:"These are definitely not politically correct characters -- in fact, some of the personalities who pop up in this madcap mystery will elicit a gasp of "I can't believe he said that", and then a lot of laughter. The setting gathers together the loopiest losers you can picture. Imagine a collection of bottom-of-the-barrel car salesmen, trying mightily to sell the worst car ever made in the history of automobile manufacturing. Imagine them trying every desperate trick in the book. And uttering dialogue that manages to insult every ethnic group under the sun.But it's hard to feel outrage when you're laughing so hard.Throw in a murdered guy in a car trunk and a sharp-eyed detective thrown into this sea of incompetents, and you have a caper that's hotter than Texas in August."There's a dead guy in the trunk of a car parked on the back row of an automobile dealership. He's been dead for quite a while, and the circumstances surrounding the death are strange. That's not the only strangeness that police detective Gabe Lozano finds when he arrives at the Alamo Tuahtsing dealership to investigate the death. The dealership is the first in town to offer a new line of Chinese-made cars. Tuahtsing- unfortunately pronounced "twot-sing" to the great glee of the late night comedians-is a newcomer on the automotive scene. A goofy, circus-like atmosphere greets the investigators. A rocking-chair marathon is underway, with contestants competing for the new-car prize that awaits the survivor. An ambulance is just carrying away one of the recently fallen. Sales manager John Peacock struggles to keep a veneer of order, but with a sales force comprised of a collection of scoundrels, misfits, drunks, slackers and all-around odd-ducks, it is a task he compares to "riding herd on a gang of amphetamine-crazed rodents." The only thing they all have in common is that none of them wants to be here, doing this job. Over the Curb is a funny and irreverent romp, and while the sham and hucksterism and skullduggery are on full display, the story surprises with moments of poignancy and goodness that defy stereotype. Readers are laughing: "What an entertaining laugh out loud read. Plot twists and turns with an ending I didn't see coming kept me reading non-stop til I finished. " (from the Kindle e-book version reviews on Amazon.com)