Saturday, July 7, 2007

Cherrie Pie (Simone Kirsch) by Leigh Redhead


This Australian PI novel starts out as what almost seems a Janet Evanovich-like comic crime romp. Simone Kirsch, stripper and PI and her ditzy friend Chloe go undercover, argue and hit on attractive men. Trying to track down her childhood friend Andy she meets colorful characters like metalhead and macho celebrity chef Trip. There's a lot of laughs and it's a great ride of fun... And then in the last part things get very serious and dark. Simone is confronted by the sketchy past of her family and her own, has to face up to her own failures and encounters ruthless killers. I've seen Harlan Coben pull off this stuff in his last couple of Myron Bolitar but Leigh does it with even greater effect.
Leigh is someone who knows what she writes about, having been a stripper and working in restaurants as well, having a hippie mother like Simone... I guess that makes this wild tale still so believable and had me feeling very bad for Simone, a very life-like character. Read it, mate!

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