cover image Go to Helena Handbasket

Go to Helena Handbasket

Donna Moore. Point Blank, $29.95 (156pp) ISBN 978-0-8095-5735-6

Even in the farcical universe imagined in Moore's witty sendup of detective novels and cop shows, overweight, man-hungry British PI Helena Handbasket is playing out of her league: ""I was sure I'd solved the case through good detecting skills, cunning, and the sheer good luck of being kidnapped by the suspect."" Threading her indelicate, befuddled path through such characters as Robin Banks, Luke Warmwater, Augusta Wind, and Jerry and Sally Mander, Helena searches for a wealth of missing jewels as well as an apparent serial killer-one who chops off hands, sticks Ten Commandment notes into mouths and tops the corpses off by sewing little scarlet fish into hollowed-out chest cavities. Boldly ignoring every clue thrust into her face, Helena will amuse many readers and drive others batty.