Laughing Dog by Dick Lochte

Serendipity Dahlquist is a pragmatic, precocious fifteen-year-old who lives in Southern California with her grandmother, a beloved but acerbic soap opera star. Leo Bloodworth is a hard-boiled, hard-drinking old school private eye. Their first adventure, SLEEPING DOG (also available on Kindle) was a New York Times book of the year. Publishers Weekly said it “outclasses, in many ways, the tales of Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald and other renowned California mystery writers. It was nominated for an Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards and won the Nero Wolfe Award for best mystery of the year.

Now Leo and Serendipity are back, this time on the trail of a runaway teen and a pair of sapphire earrings. Are these different cases or merely separate pieces of a larger puzzle that includes TV starlets, sexual slavery, a rival detective killed by birds of prey and other assorted homicides and a terrorist attack that threatens to destroy America’s entire west coast.

LAUGHING DOG is available from Amazon.

 *****

“A guaranteed delight. Written with style and wit, Dick Lochte’s Laughing Dog provides an intriguing plot and indelible characters.” ROSS THOMAS

“Sensational writing, mordant wit, an intricate crime puzzle, and a duo of private eyes as wonky and offbeat as the mind of Dick Lochte.” HARLAN ELLISON

“Few capture California better.” KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Deliciously humorous and touching moments that conmtrast sharply with the evil deeds of villains whose aliases offer clues to movie buffs.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

 *****

DICK LOCHTE is the author of a list of popular crime novels including SLEEPING DOG which won the Nero Wolfe Award, was nominated for the Edgar, the Shamus and the Anthony, and was named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Booksellers Association. He is the author of the noir thriller, BLUES IN THE NIGHT and co-author with the Today Show’s Al Roker, of the current mystery, THE TALK SHOW MURDERS.