The Lucky Elephant Restaurant: A Detective Lane Mystery
by Garry Ryan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Garry RyanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-15
ISBN: 1896300979
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: NeWest Press
Book Reviews of The Lucky Elephant Restaurant: A Detective Lane Mystery
Book Review: Outstanding, timely and engaging mystery
Summary: 5 Stars
With some of my favorite gay mystery writers (such as Nava, Craft, Wilson and Stevenson) having concluded their long-running series, I have been looking out for possible replacements from lesser-known authors. I ran across the "Detective Lane" series (only two books, so far) written by Garry Ryan, a high school teacher in Calgary (Canada) who wanted to depict the diverse community in which he lives.
Detective Lane (the author apparently isn't real big on last names, so most characters are identified just by their first) is well known in the Calgary Police Department, both for being an excellent detective who specializes in missing persons cases as well as being one of the few openly gay members of the force. The latter has made him a target of occasional harassment by less-enlightened fellow officers, and made him a bit of a loner, who originally worked primarily by himself, occasionally aided by his life-partner Arthur, who worked from their home. It's a nice neighborhood, despite a busybody next door neighbor with a secret of her own.
In "The Lucky Elephant Restaurant", Lane and his police partner Harper investigate a case in which a popular right-wing religious talk show host, Bobbie Reddie, has her young daughter and estranged husband found dead, an apparently murder-suicide in burned SUV. But forensic tests provide conflicting information, and further investigations lead Lane and Harper to similar fire-related deaths in Reddie's past, with intentionally destroyed evidence and animal cruelty providing additional clues. Meanwhile, Lane's cozy home for two becomes a home for four, as Arthur's sister Martha, who has cancer, and her teenage son Matt come to live with them. Ultimately, an estranged brother of Reddie provides some insight into her past, but Lane and Harper can only question him through an attorney paid for by his mysterious "Uncle" Tan.
While this is not a sequel to his first book, "Queen's Park", it does continue the development of characters introduced in the first, and, in my opinion, both books should be read in order in order to better enjoy them. While I enjoyed both very much, I agree that this is the better of the two, and give it my highest rating possible of five bold stars out of five.
Summary of The Lucky Elephant Restaurant: A Detective Lane Mystery
When the young daughter of popular radio talk show host Bobbie Reddie disappears along with Bobbie’s ex-husband, Detectives Lane and Harper are on the case. Haunted by flashbacks from a previous missing child case, Lane once again takes to the streets of Calgary looking for answers.
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