Murderously Incorrect

Rating:
Summary: Rada's is an incorrect detective worth reading
Review:

Professor Katherine Raines retains Manhattan private investigator Alex Rada to find her missing graduate assistant Susan Blake. Though the case seems like a lot of work to the lazy Rada, the money from the NYU instructor and political consultant to senatorial candidate Delaney Lynch is too good to pass up at a time when it is most needed.

The case starts poorly for Alex when he is forced off the road. The investigation turns ugly when a sniper fires bullets into Katherine's apartment. Alex desperately wants off the case, but Katherine manages to keep him on by raising the ante. However, as Alex continues his sleuthing for the missing Susan, he suddenly questions his wisdom for accepting the exorbitant fee since he is caught in the midst of murder and double-dealing that could leave him without the opportunity to spend the money he earned.

MURDEROUSLY CORRECT is a wonderful debut novel due to the complexity of the characters. Alex is a great sleuth and his relationship with his client is fabulous. The detective aspects to the interesting story line are done with wit and energy. Though there is some profanity, it blends in well with the plot and charcaters. Henry F. Mazel demonstrates a high level of skill when he makes readers think in a thoughtful manner about individual morality. For this reason alone, readers should buy this book.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Ride Down a Crowded Street
Review: Accomplished playwright Henry Mazel has found a new avenue in the dark New York streets. His new mystery novel featuring the downtrodden PI Alex Rada is a drive you will not want to miss. Following a course of deception that can only find its rightful place in the arena of politics, Rada discovers a gory murder that he must solve to save his sanity. This hero shows more emotion than those in the list of completely hard-boiled detectives, but the dark images drawn by the multi-story buildings and the back alleys of the city and Mazel's mind give the perfect setting for deceit, intrigue, and murder. Take this page-turner to a quiet place and enjoy the ride.

Rating:
Summary: engrossing, realistic portrait of politics, scene, character
Review: Engrossing intriguing novel with interesting characters, dialogue and intricately woven plot. Alex Rada is someone I'd like to know: a little flawed, tough and good. I look forward to another read from this author.

Rating:
Summary: engrossing, realistic portrait of politics, scene, character
Review: Fans of the hardboiled genre, there is a new private investigator in New York City, Alex Rada, a former NY police officer. Katharine Raines, a college professor and political consultant to Delaney Lynch, candidate for the U.S. Senate in New York, hires Rada to investigate the disappearance of grad student, Susan Blake. Upon discovering that she has been murdered in her apartment, Rada is determined to find out who committed the brutal murder. There are a number of twists and turns in this plot. And the ending will surprise the reader. Mazel writes action scenes that keep readers sitting on the edge of their chairs in suspense. The scene of Rada chasing a suspect through the streets of New York was riveting. The prologue introduces the reader to Alex and sets the stage effectively for the story. I particularly like titles for every chapter. I am looking forward to Alex Rada's next investigation and to finding out more about Alex.

Rating:
Summary: Rada is a charming anachronism; a moral man in an amoral age
Review: Murderously Incorrect gives us a fascinating character in Alex Rada; a moral man in an amoral age, trying to make his way through the complexities of modern life. In addition to his own struggles, he's drawn into the periphery of a morass of corruption and murder as he investigates a missing persons case. I thoroughly enjoyed the character and almost read the entire book in one sitting, as the complexities of the plot captivated and intrigued me. I hope to see more work from this very skilled author. (Note the chapter titles---quite amusing!)

Rating:
Summary: A crackling good mystery not to be missed.
Review: REVIEWED BY THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW Murderously Incorrect Henry F. Mazel Crime and Again Press 245 8th Avenue, Suite 283, New York, NY 10011 0-9665899-0-4 $12.95 1-212-727-0151 [e-mail]

Beth Lewis Reviewer

Mostly, we live in a world of ambiguity, not quite sure whether our moral compasses always point north. No one more so than the protagonist of this taut new detective thriller, Alex Rada. He's not above pocketing a few bucks he finds in an apartment he's rifling through, then changing his mind and placing the money back in the drawer it came from before leaving. Rada is literally a man investigating a post-modern world he can't quite figure out.

Alex's world is downtown Manhattan. And though it's a cool autumn in New York, the city is in the midst of a very hot political season. Not exactly Alex Rada's cup of tequila. He'd rather hold up in the East Village apartment he calls his office, venturing out for the occasional divorce case, or to serve an easy subpoena. Such are the habits of the indolent detective.

Katharine Raines a political science professor at New York University will have none of it. She hires Rada to find her missing graduate assistant, Susan Blake. Katharine Raines is also a respected member of the senatorial campaign staff of Delaney Lynch, the woman who has just won the New York State Democratic senatorial nomination. After failing to reach Rada by phone, Katharine Raines goes to Alex's threadbare office. When she asks him why there's no way to leave a message on his answering machine, Alex replies: "I'm not that mechanically inclined."

"You mean," she asks, "not that mechanically inclined like Richard Nixon, or not that mechanically inclined like your basic village idiot?"

"Generally, my clients feel more comfortable insulting me after they've given me a retainer," Rada replies.

Their relationship begins and continues on this same note, and it soon becomes evident that there is more here than just a missing person's case. Rada's car is run off the road when he drives out to question the graduate assistant's foster parents. Katharine is attacked in her apartment by a fusillade of bullets, badly damaging her apartment, not to mention her psyche. Yet when Alex suggests she drop the case, Katharine raises the ante offering him $25,000 to continue.

Well, how can a guy refuse a lady in distress?

Alex does turn up a lead; it propels him on a journey through the bars and clubs of New York's East Village, into the edgy world of performance art, and to the precincts of power and privilege uptown. Suddenly, almost as quickly as he can draw in a breath of crisp New York fall air, Rada is caught in a maelstrom of murder and betrayal in which there is no one to rely on but himself.

In Murderously Incorrect, author Henry F. Mazel explores the nature of individualism and isolation in a world of moral relativism. He does it with flare and wit. A past recipient of the Cine Eagle Award, this screenwriter and playwright's first Alex Rada novel is a crackling good mystery not to be missed. END