"This is an entertaining read that flips the archetypal moody, loner, unlikable but effective investigator on its head with the result being a humorous but engaging detective story."
A mystery with unique private investigators and a case with untold twists. After a successful case made the news, Private Detectives Teddy and Ralph Lint are approached with a potentially disastrous new case. A storage container of radioactive herbicide referred to as Agent Orange or Royal Jelly was lost after the war in Vietnam. With the threat of an organisation covering Los Angeles with this deadly chemical, the race is on to find who has the missing shipment and where it is before time runs out. I liked our two lead characters, Teddy and Ralph. Their unique backstory of being rescued from a cult in their childhood and adopted together adds an extra layer of depth to the characters and to the story. Their personalities differ and reflect their past experiences, with Teddy able to see and bring out the best in everyone he meets and Ralph being significantly more protective and reserved but ultimately trusting his brother. These traits allow them to navigate their investigations, although sometimes this happens in more unorthodox ways. As the different suspects for who has the missing herbicide are investigated the case takes a humorous turn for the bizarre, with Royal Jelly meaning something completely different and triggering some dramatic reactions. This is an entertaining read that flips the archetypal moody, loner, unlikable but effective investigator on its head with the result being a humorous but engaging detective story.
Teddy Lint is the kindest private investigator on the planet, committed to seeing the best in everyone he meets. The detective agency he runs with his brother Ralph out of a Los Angeles strip mall has seen a strange case or two before, but never anything like this. A man claiming to work for the CIA hires the Lints to find a shipping container of radioactive Agent Orange that vanished over fifty years ago. He insists someone is planning on using an army of drones to drench L.A. with the deadly chemicals before the week is out. The Lint Brothers enter a maze of bizarre suspects, from nefarious ad executives, to anarchistic Boy Scouts, to a toga-clad militia fighting for exclusive rule by women. The propaganda-obsessed society that seems to be running the world is probably worth looking into as well. The power of empathy collides with the dangers of disinformation as Teddy fights to save the people he loves. Our beloved detective doesn't give up easily, but any Angelenos with an aversion to death by herbicide might want to dust off that umbrella, just in case…
