Kathryn Gable had come into my office with a stern look on her face, her chin held high, wearing a dress of fussy green. She had introduced herself, sat down in the chair before my desk and said, “I understand you have a reputation.”
In my previous life, I was a cop with little respect for authority or the chain of command for the Virginia Beach PD. Looking back on the situation now, I had lasted five years, three years longer than I would’ve assumed possible. As a private investigator, I’m allowed to have no respect for authority, no filter for my mouth or my brain, determine my caseload, and take vacations when the mood strikes me . . . In fact, I’d just returned from one of those vacations the day before Kathryn had arrived in my office.
I smiled at Kathryn and wondered what she’d heard, though I wasn’t quite ready to go back to work again. My response was somewhat indifferent as I managed, “Oh, really?” ~~ Excerpt from Graceful Immortality
In his rollicking mystery Graceful Immortality, Robert Downs has created a wisecracking protagonist, Casey Holden, on par with Robert Parker’s Spenser (though with perhaps an even more active libido). This fine mystery has suspects galore and more interesting women than even Casey can shake a stick at. Graceful Immortality is a well-written and fun-filled ride through the parlors and alleyways of Virginia Beach.
D.E. Johnson, author of Detroit Shuffle
Fans of Travis McGee are in for a treat as Robert Downs’ latest book, Graceful Immortality, delivers every bit of suspense, mystery, and femme fatales in bathing suits one expects from the genre McGee made famous. Casey Holden is a smart, smooth-talking PI who grabs the reader in a stranglehold and doesn’t let go as the twists unfold. Murder might be first on his mind, but sex isn’t far. So slather on the sunscreen, squeeze into those leg warmers, and prepare for a fun, wild mystery reminiscent of the late, great John MacDonald.
J.A. Kazimer, author of The Fairyland Murders