Slow Burn

Anticipating problems, a prestigious global restaurant convention hires Leo as Special Security Officer. His assignment: monitor the movements of two adversarial steakhouse competitors whose "beef" has previously made for some nasty confrontations and a food critic who's caught in between the warring factions. Leo sends the Boys off to shadow all three parties and report back to him. But even the simplest of plans can cascade into catastrophe. And Leo soon finds himself served up as the prime suspect in a murder...realizing that both his life and career are at stake.From Publishers WeeklyIn his fourth outing, Seattle PI Leo Waterman (The Bum's Rush, 1997) is hired to save Bunky, a $360,000 prize Angus steer facing death and barbecue by a desperate steak house owner. Jack Del Fuego hopes to generate publicity for his bankrupt eateries by serving Bunky at his Seattle grand opening. Sir Geoffrey Miles, an overfed authority on food, hires Leo to head off Del Fuego's plan, which threatens to spoil an international gourmet society meeting in Seattle. When Mason Reese (no, not that Mason Reese), a tawdry food critic whose approval Del Fuego needs, is found murdered, the cops think Leo did it, so he must catch the real killer to clear himself. Atop his suspect list are a rival steak restaurateur, Del Fuego's avaricious ex-wife and suites full of greedy hangers-on. For assistance, Leo once again recruits "The Boys," the cadre of aging drunks who stand?or slouch?at the ready to help him with his offbeat cases. Ford pushes credibility by deploying The Boys to snoop around Seattle's finest hotel, but, placed next to the snooty, vengeful rich on the premises, Leo's boozy geezers seem downright genteel. A thoroughly wacky climax in the center of the city involving helicopters, a bull on a pallet, a mammoth barbecue pit and thermodynamics seems just right for Ford's latest, a hugely entertaining, over-the-top caper. Author tour. (Mar.) FYI: In simultaneous publication, Avon will issue the paperback edition of Bum's Rush. Ford's previous Leo Waterman novels were published in hardcover by Walker.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalHired as a security liaison for an international food conference by an eminent food critic, Seattle's Leo Waterman, private investigator, steps into the middle of a food feud between two rival American steak-house chains. Leo taps family connections in city government for information, dolls up some of his usual group of homeless alcoholics to infiltrate a fancy hotel, and even breaks a thumb or two but fails to prevent the murder of his pontificating client. Ford (Cast in Stone, LJ 4/1/96) conveys the larger-than-life suspects, rag-tag operatives, and exaggerated situations with delightful finesse. For most collections.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.