If Stephanie Plum had a Texas cousin, Edgar-finalist Moore's Cézanne Martin, a Fort Worth cop turned lawyer, would be it. Adding extra pizzazz to the hilarious third installment (after 2004's The Wild Orchid Society
) is Deuteronomy “Duty” Devilrow, Cézanne's African-American teenage ward, whose “words-from-the-hood” often threaten to steal the show. The action opens with a bang as Cézanne wakes up late one night to find a gun in her face—held by Darlene Driskoll, a soon-to-be-convicted crazed murderess and prison escapee. After eluding Driskoll in the course of a harrowing car ride, Cézanne seeks help from the FWPD's star detective, Wolfgang “Slash” Vaughn. News that Bob Martin, her long-lost dad, has died disrupts her life further when she discovers elderly Aunt Velda squatting in her inheritance, a Fort Worth house. Then Cézanne's brother, Henri Matisse Martin, suddenly appears, wanting his share of their dad's estate. Moore makes sure it's all a hoot and a half. (Dec.)
