Unbalanced by D. P. Lyle

 

Jake Longly and super-hot Nicole are back with a new mystery.  While I like the Sam Cody character in Lyle’s other series, this series has its moments.   Jake’s enormous sidekick, Pancake, continues to stretch the bottom line of Jake’s restaurant with his apparent insatiability for food.  Clara, his restaurant manager, keeps Jake afloat.  A retired major league pitcher, Jake doesn’t present a picture of respectability.  He does as little work as possible and I’m guessing that is why I struggle to like his character.  In this book, he finally demonstrates some empathy and ambition regarding the plot.

 

A successful realtor is shot while Pancake and Ray are investigating a possible embezzlement for said client..

 

Although Jake does not work for his dad, Nicole, and Pancake do and where they go he goes. This leads to some action and a lot of investigation.  Jake and Nicole continue to indulge in frequent amorous indulgences while Pancake discovers a new love.  

At the risk of redundancy, I enjoyed the book but not as much as the previous books.  I think Lyle’s  Sam Cody books are considerably better.

Nicole is a fast driver and Pancake is an insatiable eater, which has been established in previous books.   Those two facts seemed to be overdone in this book.   Over and over again it was mentioned how much Pancake eats and how fast Nicole drives.  Perhaps a first-time reader would miss the redundancy but as a consistent reader. I just got tired of it.

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