No Questions Asked is a solid mystery/suspense. It's probably
not going to stick with me over the long term, but I enjoyed reading it,
and will look for more by the same author.
There seems to be a
whole minigenre of non-detective detectives - Bernie Rhodenbarr from
Lawrence Block's Burglar Who...series springs readily to mind. Or
Dortmunder from Westlake books. This book is firmly in that tradition,
with the main character being on neither side of the law. He works as a
go-between.
As the book starts, Philip St. Ives, (I had to look up
the name, even though I just finished the book two days ago,) is hired
by an insurance company to handle the hand-off between the company and
the thieves who stole the rare book they had insured. Double-crossing
naturally ensues, and St. Ives wants to track down what the hell just
happened to him.
Along the way, he hires an aspiring young
political operative as his driver in an unfamiliar city, gets cozy with
the owner of the rare book, as well as with a psychiatrist/poker player,
loses a friend, and sorts out a tangle.
I figured out the
culprit fairly early, but there was enough in this book to keep me
interested. I don't think this author is going to become one of my
favourites, but it was fast and fun to read, and just the sort of break I
needed from heavier tomes.
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