THE ALIBI MAN by Tami Hoag
Tami Hoag introduced the character of Elena Estes in her previous novel DARK HORSE. In THE ALIBI MAN she brings her back for another adventure. It was a good move and a bad one. Elena is an interesting person and the mystery in which she is involved this time is a suspenseful one. However she was not such a dynamic person that she deserves a second chapter.
In THE ALIBI MAN, Elena is still working as a groomer in Palm Beach, Florida. She is surrounded by the rich, famous and jaded. Once she was a part of that lifestyle but she rejected it and became an undercover cop. That experience ended with her near death so now she is a groomer.
At the start of the novel Elena discovers a body. It is that of her friend and fellow groomer Irina Markova. Irina was a beautiful woman until someone killed her, put her body into a canal and let the alligators feed on her. Elena is horrified by the brutality of this crime and vows to find out who did this. Her ex-lover Landry, who is a police detective, asks her to stay out of it but he knows she will be irresistibly drawn to solving the crime.
Elena does start her own investigation and this brings her into contact with Alexi Kulak, a member of the Russian mob operating in Palm Beach. Alexi is a man who kills without remorse. He loved Irina and tells Elena to find her killer and then bring him to Alexi for punishment.
The top suspect on Elena's list is her ex-fiancée' Bennett Walker. In the past he was accused of raping another woman. He and Elena were engaged at the time. Bennett tried to get Elena to provide him with an alibi and she refused. She even testified against him; but her father, a high-powered defense attorney, managed to get him off. Now another crime has been committed and the dead woman was known to have been a "friend" of Bennett's.
All of this sounds like exciting reading and it is - to a degree. The plot moves slowly. In the first two thirds of the book nothing much happens except the murder. The rest of the content deals with Elena's past and with her investigation. It is only in the last third that the pace quickens and the book becomes a real page-turner.
Hoag is a good writer and she knows exactly how to keep her story on track. By the end of this book you feel you know exactly who and what Elena is, but you also feel you have a little too much information. Elena is interesting, but not that interesting. Hopefully she will be retired as leading character material after this book.
The payoff in THE ALIBI MAN is enough to make you want to read it. You have to wade through a good bit of shallow water before you reach the deep end (ing), but the climax of the story is worth the trip.
THE ALIBI MAN is published by Bantam Books. It contains 351 pages and sells for $26.00.