The Big O: An Albie Marx Mystery

Debin distills the essence of L.A. looniness in the second outing, after Nice Guys Finish Dead , of hard-boiled hippie hero Albie Marx, reporter for Up Yours and a die-hard Dodgers fan. Bel Aire lawyer and teamster mouthpiece Sy Horcheck leans on Albie to drop an expose series that has already drawn enough blood from banker Franklin Dart to attract the Feds. Marx hoots at the threats until his old buddy Lenny is murdered shortly after saving Marx from an ambush in an alley. On his way to Horcheck's office to tell him to call off the wolves, Marx is waylaid by gorgeous daughter-in-law Bridgett Horcheck, with whom he begins a romance based on mutual lust and mistrust. Looking into Lenny's death, and annoying the LAPD, Marx opens a fully packed can of worms. Lenny, who was into a loan shark for over a mil, had borrowed from Dart to pay his IRS bill; Lenny's film star wife, who is boffing ace Dodger pitcher, Oscar ``the Big O'' Hamilton, was suing Lenny for a mega-settlement. A photo connects Dart, the mafia and Horcheck, while other clues lead to Marx's ex-wife now living with a guru who channels aliens. While Debin takes a twist from a recent movie for his ending, he paints a surreal L.A. with convincing style. (Feb.)