cover image MISS GAZILLIONS

MISS GAZILLIONS

Richard Weber, . . St. Martin's Minotaur/ Dunne, $23.95 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-312-33140-5

After exploring serious political issues in his noirish Homeland (2004), Weber shifts tone in his excellent second novel, a lighthearted mystery-thriller filled with unforgettable characters and beautifully described settings. Daniel O'Sullivan's career as a yacht pilot in the Virgin Islands comes to an abrupt end when two strangers appear with the news that his father is dead and that his boat, which belonged to his father, has been confiscated. Having lived off his father's money for 20 years after failing to graduate from Yale, Daniel retreats to Brooklyn, where he meets the young and free-spirited Celeste Tranor (whom Kinky Friedman aptly likens in a blurb to Holly Golightly). Celeste possesses two bags full of cash that she retrieved from an auto accident that killed the car's other occupants—two important U.S. political dignitaries and a Colombian drug lord. When Celeste's apartment is trashed, she and Daniel flee with the money to Rome, where they connect with Daniel's father's ex-girlfriend and her new beau, a disgraced Italian cardinal, who's an expert on obtaining and selling priceless artifacts. Weber does a superb job of detailing how Swiss bank accounts work and how art gets moved from its country of origin. This suspenseful, amusing and touching story will mesmerize readers. Agent, Scott Miller at Trident Media Group. (Mar. 21)