cover image Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Don Bruns, Oceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $25.95 (296p) ISBN 978-1-933515-79-3

Roommates Skip Moore and James Lessor of More or Less Investigations receive PI licenses from the Florida Department of Agriculture ("Don't ask why.... This is Florida. They just do things a little differently here") in Bruns's diverting if predictable fourth mystery to feature the bumbling sleuths (after 2009's Stuff to Spy For). When Moe Bradley, owner of the Moe Show carnival, hires James to be his new marketing director, he also asks them to find out who's been sabotaging the rides. A faulty safety bar on one ride has resulted in a 32-year-old woman being thrown to her death. After Kevin Cross, who knows too much about the carny for his own good, turns up shot to death in his trailer, the action, leavened with plenty of laid-back dialogue, picks up steam and concludes on a cool cliffhanger. Skip's girlfriend, Emily, and their PI pal, Jody Stacy, who supplies the pair with spy toys, add to the fun. (Dec.)