One Dead, Two to Go by Elena Hartwell
If ever there was a book begging for a sequel, it’s One Dead, Two to Go, and if One Dead is your introduction to author Elena Hartwell and her work, you’re in luck. This is the first in a trio of murder mysteries (now in paperback!) starring the refreshing and irresistibly likable Edwina Zapata Schultz.
Daughter of a teenaged free spirit named Chava Schultz and a bit of a cad named Eduardo Zapata, little Edwina wisely decided to answer only to the name Eddie (mostly because Edwina was hard to pronounce) and, when she was old enough to do so, legally changed her name to Eddie Shoes.
And so “Call me Eddie Shoes” begins the first book of the adventures of Eddie Shoes, Private Investigator.
She’s tailing the wayward husband of a weepy client named Kendra T. Hallings who’s anticipating a messy divorce. Eddie has followed him to a seedy motel where he exits, straightening his tie and kissing a scantily clad woman goodbye in the conveniently brightly lit doorway – where Eddie gets the photographs she needs for her client.
At this point, Eddie Shoes is congratulating herself on an easy job well done, and readers have the first example of Hartwell’s smooth transitions from chapter to chapter: “What,” Eddie asks herself, “could possibly go wrong with such an easy case?”
Eddie’s day tumbles along smoothly until the cops arrive unannounced and make her “easy case” a little more complicated: The scantily clad woman in the photos she took the night before has been found dead and crammed into the crawlspace of an abandoned building.
One dead.
Hartwell slips a love interest into the narrative followed shortly by the arrival of Eddie’s mother lugging a suitcase and a flimsy story about getting kicked out of Las Vegas. Chava, never a candidate for Mother of the Year, has been in and out of Eddie’s radar for years, making her living gambling and who-knows-what-else, but as an accomplished card counter, she has worn out her welcome. Suddenly, Eddie has a roommate.
As Kendra Hallings’ impending divorce proceedings now include a murder, Eddie Shoes has to ramp up her investigative talents, and Chava just can’t leave well enough alone. Her Las Vegas “contacts” might be shady, but they do know things, and Chava is fearless about creeping around in the dark. Although Eddie tries to educate her mother about the legality of some of the things they’re doing, Chava soldiers on; and to Eddie’s surprise, she makes a good partner.
Hartwell’s spare and lively dialogue smoothly moves the action from breaking-and-entering to kidnapping and gunshots, lies, stolen identities, romance, and a dog. She drops a line at the end of every chapter to tease her readers to keep reading, and it works. “What could possibly go wrong?” Rhetorical question. Or Eddie chastises herself that she might have been better prepared … “if I had paid a little more attention.” Eddie most certainly wishes she had.
But by the time One Dead, Two to Go loosely ties up its loose ends, Eddie and Chava seem to have a future together, maybe. And with the dog in the back seat.
About Elena Hartwell:
Elena Hartwell has spent years supporting writers and constructing stories. Her award-winning and bestselling works include the Eddie Shoes mysteries and All We Buried (written under Elena Taylor). Her plays have been seen around the US and UK, garnering critical acclaim and stellar reviews. As a developmental editor, she has worked with hundreds of writers, most recently as senior editor and director of programming for the boutique editing house, Allegory Editing. She regularly teaches writing workshops and enjoys helping others achieve their writing dreams.
