Shay O’Hanlon is the co-owner of the hip, quirky Rabbit Hole, a popular coffee shop in Uptown Minneapolis. Police detective JT Bordeaux shows up at the Hole in search of Shay’s best friend, Coop—a chain-smoking, vegetarian tree hugger—who’s wanted for questioning in connection with the bludgeoning death of his less-than-respectable boss, Stanley “Kinky” Anderson. Coop’s prints are all over the murder weapon—an over-sized, bronzed bingo marker—and the cops have themselves a prime suspect. Suddenly, Shay’s quiet but highly caffeinated world spins out of control faster than a ride on a fairground Tilt-A-Whirl as she tries to save her friend.
Complicating matters are a couple of bumbling mobsters, a missing truckload of stolen nuts, an abused mutt named Dawg, a kidnapping or two, and a very persistent Detective Bordeaux.
Will Shay and her quirky friends succeed in their quest to clear Coop and nail the murderer or will their nutty caper wind up deadly?
Book 1 in the Shay O’Hanlon Caper series.
“Madcap dangers…amusing debut, with [an] attractive lesbian sleuth…” –Kirkus Reviews
“A winner. Let me assure you that you won’t be taking a gamble on reading this delightful romp.” –Mystery Lovers Review
Bingo Barge Murder won the Golden Crown Literary Society’s 2012 Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award and was a 2012 finalist in the GCLS mystery/thriller category.
Rainbow Book Reviews
The story moves on at a fast pace, but it's easy to keep up. Suspects come and go, and a multitude of dangerous, and sometimes hilarious, situations keep Shay, Coop, and Eddy on their toes. Chandler's writing style is delightfully easy to read—the action scenes are described with just the right amount of detail, the dialogue between the characters is snappy, and the more emotional episodes are handled with sensitivity. It's a fantastic mix, and I couldn't put it down. Bring on episode two!
Ameliah –
Shay and her motley crew are on the run from not one set of kidnappers and murderers, but two. There was plenty of mystery and intrigue to keep me at the edge of my seat. I didn’t want to put the book down and was sad when it came to an end.
The characters are so easy to love you can’t help but gasp at some of the trouble they encounter…and heave a sigh of relief when they scraped their way out of yet another dangerous situation.
Ms. Chandler has quite a sense of humor and it shows in this book.