From Booklist
Boston private investigator John Francis Cuddy is Healy's best-known creation. But as these 10 short stories and one novella illustrate, Healy is capable of creating believable characters and clever plots outside the confines of the modern private-eye novel. The novella, "Off-Season," finds vacationing Boston police detective Kevin Malloy helping the apparently befuddled police chief of a small Caribbean island solve a locked-room mystery. "The Safest Little Town in Texas" is a perfect example of a Chamber of Commerce marketing phrase being both misleading and deadly accurate, as one small-time hood finds out. A short highlight is "Rotten to the Core," in which the son of a widowed apple farmer has his nefarious plans pointed right back at him. Healy's work--Cuddy and otherwise--is notable for its sly humor and sharp dialogue. Both are present in abundance in this very enjoyable collection. Wes Lukowsky
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