Sticky Fingers by Nancy Martin is the second book in the “Roxy Abruzzo” mystery series. Publisher: Minotaur Books, March 2011
Roxy Abruzzo stays one step ahead of trouble—especially now that her cash flow is less than stellar, and she’s “doing favors” for her slippery uncle Carmine, one of the last old-time Mob bosses in Pittsburgh.
With her sidekick, Nooch, and her thieving pitbull, Rooney, Roxy hustles the mean streets collecting debts for Uncle Carmine and keeping his customers in line. With her daughter’s college tuition to pay, Roxy can almost convince herself that the shady jobs are legal. But when Carmine’s consigliere offers Roxy a contract to kidnap someone, that’s a line she won’t cross.
Trouble is the kidnapping happens anyway, and when the victim turns up murdered, Roxy’s number one on the police hit parade. To protect herself, she investigates and soon learns the victim had a big secret—or two. Add a rock singer with a penchant for dinosaur bones and throw in a pesky paleontologist, plus an ex-nun with a mustache problem—not to mention a sexy chef with a taste for whatever Roxy dishes up—and you’ve got a caper full of quirky characters and laugh-out-loud mayhem.
Peppered as usual with Nancy Martin’s sharp one-liners, Sticky Fingers—the second Roxy Abruzzo mystery—is even tastier than the first.
Roxy is back and I love it. Business is slow so she’s doing jobs for her uncle when he proposes a kidnapping job, she declines immediately. When she goes to warn the person, the past comes back and Roxy leaves only to discover that she is missing and Roxy fears that someone took the job and it became deadly when the kidnapped person turns up dead. With her natural curiosity and to right a wrong, Roxy goes in search of a killer and when the dust is settled, I’m more surprised at the identity. What an action-filled, exciting and fun adventure I had hanging out with Roxy. In between trying to keep her business afloat, raising her daughter and improving her life, life just keeps screwing her plans. This was an exhilarating ride that I did not want to come off. Roxy is brash, in your face, with a no holds-bar attitude, but has a heart of gold that makes you want to see that she has all that she wants. This was a good read and I look forward to the next book in this enjoyable series that delights me.