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booksuperpower's review against another edition
4.0
Hit & Run by Maxine O' Callaghan is a 2015 Brash Books publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the author and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Hit & Run is an old fashioned “whodunit” featuring the very real and relatable, Delilah West. Originally published in the late 1980's, this book has been reissued “as is” by Brash Books.
Delilah is having a very bad year. If losing her husband a little while back wasn't enough, her private detective agency has fallen on very hard times and Delilah has been through a few physical scrapes along the way too. Now she is working as a waitress to make ends meet, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor of her office, and to put the cherry on the cake, she nearly gets run over while out jogging. Although, she bangs up her knee, the other victim of the hit and run, Joseph Collins, wasn't quite so lucky.
It's not long before the cops find and arrest the driver, but the young man's mother pleads with Delilah to take a closer look at the situation. Did Delilah actually see the car strike Joseph? Could he have been dead before the “accident”. Placed in the this awkward position, Delilah agrees to ask around, even if it does border on the unethical side of things. However, Delilah's questions appear to strike a nerve with the victim's family and Delilah is wondering if one them had a motive from wanting the old man dead.
Reading this book now, in 2015, I simply could not stop myself from thinking how similar this book was to the Sue Grafton alphabet mysteries featuring Kinsey Millhone. The book is pretty short, written in first person, and takes place in the eighties. But, that is really where the comparisons need to stop.
Delilah is a very strong person, with wry wit, an occasional sarcastic remark, and is tough enough to take a lickin' and keep on tickin', but is also a little “accident” prone, making more trips to the hospital than is normal, and she has a softer side to her as well, especially when she makes an occasional reference to her late husband.
The plot has a few twist and turns, moves along at quick pace, and kept me guessing all the way through, with lots of action and suspense, which kept me interested and engaged. I thought the characters were well written, some of whom I liked and some of course I didn't care for.
The references to some automobiles and TV shows from the eighties added a touch of nostalgia, although of course that wasn't the intent when the book was written, but I was glad the book wasn't touched up or modernized in any way, since this gave the story an added charm. This is a solid mystery and I enjoyed getting to know Delilah West a little better. Although this book is a part of a series, this being the third one, (if I have my facts straight), this book can be read as a stand alone. 4 stars
Hit & Run is an old fashioned “whodunit” featuring the very real and relatable, Delilah West. Originally published in the late 1980's, this book has been reissued “as is” by Brash Books.
Delilah is having a very bad year. If losing her husband a little while back wasn't enough, her private detective agency has fallen on very hard times and Delilah has been through a few physical scrapes along the way too. Now she is working as a waitress to make ends meet, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor of her office, and to put the cherry on the cake, she nearly gets run over while out jogging. Although, she bangs up her knee, the other victim of the hit and run, Joseph Collins, wasn't quite so lucky.
It's not long before the cops find and arrest the driver, but the young man's mother pleads with Delilah to take a closer look at the situation. Did Delilah actually see the car strike Joseph? Could he have been dead before the “accident”. Placed in the this awkward position, Delilah agrees to ask around, even if it does border on the unethical side of things. However, Delilah's questions appear to strike a nerve with the victim's family and Delilah is wondering if one them had a motive from wanting the old man dead.
Reading this book now, in 2015, I simply could not stop myself from thinking how similar this book was to the Sue Grafton alphabet mysteries featuring Kinsey Millhone. The book is pretty short, written in first person, and takes place in the eighties. But, that is really where the comparisons need to stop.
Delilah is a very strong person, with wry wit, an occasional sarcastic remark, and is tough enough to take a lickin' and keep on tickin', but is also a little “accident” prone, making more trips to the hospital than is normal, and she has a softer side to her as well, especially when she makes an occasional reference to her late husband.
The plot has a few twist and turns, moves along at quick pace, and kept me guessing all the way through, with lots of action and suspense, which kept me interested and engaged. I thought the characters were well written, some of whom I liked and some of course I didn't care for.
The references to some automobiles and TV shows from the eighties added a touch of nostalgia, although of course that wasn't the intent when the book was written, but I was glad the book wasn't touched up or modernized in any way, since this gave the story an added charm. This is a solid mystery and I enjoyed getting to know Delilah West a little better. Although this book is a part of a series, this being the third one, (if I have my facts straight), this book can be read as a stand alone. 4 stars
tricky's review against another edition
4.0
Delilah West is an old fashioned Private Investigator, she knocks on doors, she asks questions, she follows a trail, she gets kicked to the ground but she always gets back up. In this mystery (the third in the series) Delilah witnesses a hit and run accident. What seems cut and dried case turns out to have a few more twists and hazards for Delilah before she can say case closed.
Delilah is a take no prisoner kind of person and life has not been kind to her. Even though this the third book in the series you will be able to read it as a stand-alone as O’Callaghan provides the right amount of background at the right time.
The writing is snappy, engaging, the action is plenty and Delilah makes a great character. She is tough, is carrying quite a bit of personal baggage and is trying to rebuild her life after some serious setbacks.
The mystery is complicated but not in the way of being bogged down with depth forensics, DNA or doing any psychological analysis, Deliah West just shakes the tree and see what will drop. I have to say that is refreshing as sometimes she manages to get it wrong and her fallibility is a good thing. She is not a perfect PI with all answers, she makes mistakes, judges people wrong but has the tenacity to keep going. When she does get it right you do appreciate that she has got there through hard work and persistence.
When I started to read this I had a feeling I had met the character of Deliah West before and I had having read the first book back in the 90s. It is good to see this series being given another run as O’Callaghan was a trailblazer as was Delilah
Give the series a go, you will not be disappointed as this is a good old fashioned detective story where the following the clues gets you to a result.
You will find more of O'Callaghan's works at Brash Books http://mysterythrillerbooks.com/author/maxine-ocallaghan/
Delilah is a take no prisoner kind of person and life has not been kind to her. Even though this the third book in the series you will be able to read it as a stand-alone as O’Callaghan provides the right amount of background at the right time.
The writing is snappy, engaging, the action is plenty and Delilah makes a great character. She is tough, is carrying quite a bit of personal baggage and is trying to rebuild her life after some serious setbacks.
The mystery is complicated but not in the way of being bogged down with depth forensics, DNA or doing any psychological analysis, Deliah West just shakes the tree and see what will drop. I have to say that is refreshing as sometimes she manages to get it wrong and her fallibility is a good thing. She is not a perfect PI with all answers, she makes mistakes, judges people wrong but has the tenacity to keep going. When she does get it right you do appreciate that she has got there through hard work and persistence.
When I started to read this I had a feeling I had met the character of Deliah West before and I had having read the first book back in the 90s. It is good to see this series being given another run as O’Callaghan was a trailblazer as was Delilah
Give the series a go, you will not be disappointed as this is a good old fashioned detective story where the following the clues gets you to a result.
You will find more of O'Callaghan's works at Brash Books http://mysterythrillerbooks.com/author/maxine-ocallaghan/
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