Murder Under Her Skin; L.A.'s Landmark Restaurants

 

The second book in the Parker and Pentecost series (or is it Pentecost and Parker? I should probably look that up...) was really interesting. 

After a dramatic opening in which Lillian Pentecost goads an arsonist into showing his true colors while she's testifying at his trial, the dynamic detective duo deserve a break. Alas, it is not meant to be. One of Will's friends from the circus, Ruby, was murdered and one of her other friends, mentor and knife-thrower Val, is in jail on suspicion of having sunk one of his knives into Ruby's back. Will and Lillian travel to Virginia, where the circus is currently playing. 

Ruby was the tattooed lady and had plenty of secrets of her own. The odds of her being murdered only a day after arriving back in her old hometown (which she ran away from before finishing high school and didn't return, not even for her parents' funeral) seem a bit suspicious. 

There were some fun moments, and holy cow, can someone please render Will's outfits in color so I can see how awesome they look? The way Spotswood describes them...I'm so jealous!

This was a fun, nostalgic look back at some of the most famous restaurants in Los Angeles history. Geary wrote another book I liked so much that I bought it: Made in California. 

I wish my Dad was still alive--he would have gotten a kick out of this book. I recognized a lot of the places he talked about going as a kid: Barney's Beanery and Apple Pan. He took me to the Pantry (awesome pancakes), Du-Par's (also awesome pancakes), and Canter's (no pancakes but great hamantaschen). We talked about going to the Pacific Dining Car but didn't make it. I wish traffic getting up to L.A. wasn't so heinous. I would love to go to Phillipe or El Coyote. Someday 😀