Review: Crickett (Devlin Haskell Mysteries #8) by Mike Faricy

Crickett is the Eighth mystery in the highly entertaining Dev Haskell Private Investigator mystery series.
Mike Faricy once again proves himself to be Minnesota's Master of the Bizarre.

When the city's laziest Private Investigator, Dev Haskell spots his old flame Karen Riley in The Spot bar she's changed, for one thing she's no longer Karen Riley, now she's Crickett, and then there's the stroller with ten month old Oliver. Dev hangs on and does the math, ten months plus nine months equals when?

It seems Crickett's sometime lover Daryl has been caught in possession of some drugs and she thinks they may have been planted on him. But five million dollars worth? Tough to hide that much in your pocket. Dev starts looking under rocks and quickly uncovers local crime lord Tubby Gustafson and his psychopathic enforcer, Bulldog. Things seem to go downhill rather quickly from there and Dev finds himself literally running for his life.

Crickett is a hilariously entertaining hard-boiled mystery, with just enough chills to keep you on the edge of your seat. A delightful read with a heavy dose of corner cutting and misbehavior to go with the beverage of your choice.

Dev is at it again. Bless his heart for some odd reason Dev ends up in trouble and it all starts with women. Can't this poor dude catch a break! I have a tendency to ask myself this when I read a Dev Haskell Mystery book.

When Dev was introduced to me I had to keep an open mind. I like humor and mystery books but put together and sometimes the outcome is not too good. With these series it is a wonderful combination. I find myself laughing at Dev when he is put into the weird situations and then cringing when he is getting beat up. My favorite of all this is when he is always finding himself in the cross hairs of Detective Manning. 

An old flame of Dev comes back into his life but it is for the wrong reasons. Her boyfriend/baby daddy is in trouble and it is not the normal trouble you would think. He is in trouble for running drugs and not only that the big crime lord of the city is involved. Dev has to use his detective skills to find out what the heck is going on, and because of his involvement he finds himself caught in a bubble and being shot at! 

You don't have to read the other books in this series to find out what is going on. But I would recommend that you read them all. Dev is a character you can't help but laugh and love. A great series.   

I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, I still live there as well as in Dublin, Ireland. I've been a soldier, freelance journalist, tended bar, sold designer cakes, owned a painting and decorating company along with a number of other schemes and scams. If that doesn't offend you I also play bagpipes with the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band. All my books stand alone, read them in whatever order you wish. They are filled with the sort of oddballs we are all curious about, but wisely, prefer to keep at a distance. None of my characters will be saving the world from terrorism, international banking conspiracies or coups to take over the government. Rather, they inhabit a world just below the surface of polite society, characters with one foot on either side of the law. The circumstances they find themselves in are usually due to bad decisions, but bad decisions lead to interesting stories. They serve not so much as an example but as a warning to us all. Thanks for taking the time, happy reading.