BOOK REVIEW

Title: The Highly Effective Detective

Author: Richard Yancey

In ten words or less: Security guard turned detective investigates the killing of goslings.

Review: Teddy Ruzak always wanted to be a detective, but after he washed out of the police academy, he took a job as a security guard on the night shift. Not endowed with a lot of ambition or drive, there he stayed until his mother died.
He used the money from the sale of her house to bankroll his detective agency. He didn't know he needed a license when he accepted his first case--the hit-and-run murder of a gaggle of goslings. He's in over his head from the beginning.
Ruzak is a likable if somewhat pathetic character--his heart is in the right place but he realizes he doesn't want to do any more work than he has to.

Why bother? A detective for the rest of us--not handsome, fearless, or brilliant--but an average guy in over his head. A refreshing change from the detective-as-superhero.