Publishers Weekly
05/06/2019
In Lyle’s ingenious third mystery featuring retired major league pitcher Jake Longly (after 2017’s A-List), Jake, who runs a restaurant in Gulf Shores, Ala., is again roped into working for his father Ray’s PI firm. An attorney has contacted Ray on behalf of Billy Wayne Baker, a convicted serial killer. Though Baker pleaded guilty to strangling seven women, he insists that he killed only five of them, and wants that assertion validated. When Jake meets Baker in prison, the murderer refuses to name the other killer, claiming that doing so would lead to accusations that Jake’s inquiries were biased. The investigator’s task is made even harder by Baker’s not even identifying which of the dead women were killed by someone else . (To his credit, Lyle makes this complicated scenario credible.) Along with his girlfriend, Jake travels to Pine Key, Fla., the scene of three of the strangulations, where the couple pretend to be researching a documentary examining the impact of the killings on the small community. The clever plot twists will surprise even genre veterans. This entry is the best in the series so far. Agent: Kimberly Cameron, Kimberly Cameron & Assoc. (May)
From the Publisher
Sunshine State sizzles with just the right mix of action and mystery, a rollicking roller coaster ride on a track lined with thrills and spills. The return of Jake Longly and Nicole Jamison crackles with pitch-perfect dialogue and Lyle sprinkles in enough light to make this a devilishly entertaining thriller.”
— Jon Land, USA Today best-selling author
“A serial killer hires PIs Jake & Nicole to prove he didn't commit two of his many murders. It's another ingenious story from D. P. Lyle, told with his trademark cleverness, intelligence, and wickedly sexy sense of fun.”
— Lee Goldberg, New York Times best-selling author
“The release of a new D. P. Lyle book is a highlight of any year, and Sunshine State is his best yet! This is one of those rare novels where everything in your life stops until you read through to the end. Jake Longly rocks!”
— John Gilstrap, New York Times best-selling author
“Snappy dialogue, fantastic scene setting, and polished prose set the action without hampering the pace. Sunshine State is an enjoyable murder mystery filled with heart and humor.”
— Foreword Reviews
“... medical specialist Lyle provides suitably gossipy small-town atmosphere, straightforward plotting, a likable, wisecracking hero, and, of course, solid forensics.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“D. P. Lyle is a master. Sunshine State has more laughs and sideways moments in each chapter than you’re likely to find in an entire novel by anyone else.”
— Tim Maleeny, best-selling author of Stealing the Dragon
Praise for the Jake Longly series:
“We all know Lyle’s erudition and expertise—but who knew he was this funny?”— Lee Child, New York Times best-selling author
“Readers will love Jake Longly—ex-big league ballplayer, beach bar owner, and reluctant PI, and the sharply defined ensemble of characters in Deep Six is just as outstanding. Page-turning action and knockout dialogue from a master craftsman and storyteller. I devoured this one!”
— Robert Dugoni, New York Times best-selling author
"D. P. Lyle hits it over the fence with A-List. This mystery, featuring former Major League pitcher and reluctant PI Jake Longly, is fast-paced, slick, and funny. Bad times in the Big Easy mean a great time for readers. Head to New Orleans with Jake, and enjoy the trip."
— Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-winning author
“Aptly named, A-List ranks high on the 'must buy' list for holiday shoppers. Reluctant PI Jake Longly investigates the darker side of the movie business, where professional jealousies and hedonistic habits have deadly consequences. Fast-faced and funny, the seamless prose will transport you from reality to fantasy. Lyle evokes the sights and sounds of New Orleans in such a provocative manner, you’ll be packing your bags and catching the next flight to The Big Easy for your own adventure.”
— K. J. Howe, author of Sky Jack
“Former baseball player turned PI Jake Longly is back on the trail in A-List. A rollicking thrill ride through the mean streets and tasty restaurants of New Orleans. Murder, mobbed-up bad guys, Hollywood heartthrobs, and laughs! What more could you want? D. P. Lyle is at the top of his game!"
— Matt Coyle, author of the Anthony Award-winning Rick Cahill crime novels
“D. P. Lyle serves up ample portions of mystery and suspense along with the chicory coffee and sweet beignets as PI Jake Longly digs for the truth about a murdered co-ed in New Orleans. Is A-List actor Kirk Ford the murderer? The slain young woman was found in his bed. But nothing is simple in the Big Easy, and Longly, along with girlfriend Nicole Jamison, must peel back multiple layers of intrigue and corruption to solve the mystery at the heart of A-List. New Orleans has never been as sexy or as dangerous. Highly recommended!"
— Paul Levine, best-selling author
“One part Carl Hiaasen mixed with two parts Elmore Leonard and garnished with Robert Parker at his best. [The] narrative is peppered with snappy, staccato prose that pops clean off the page, making this a series and author you don’t want to miss.”
— Jon Land, USA Today best-selling author
“ A-List by D. P. Lyle … blends humor with hard-boiled detective fiction to create a fast-paced, entertaining novel that will satisfy fans of the genre … Lyle knows how to keep the narrative flowing at a rapid pace and keep the questions coming.”
— New York Journal of Books
“Nefarious characters populate the French Quarter in New Orleans—and pages in this quirky action-packed thriller.”
— Bookreporter
Kirkus Reviews
2018-11-13
A third case takes the ever reluctant "sort of a P.I." Jake Longly and his girlfriend, Nicole Jamison, from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to a tiny Florida town on what sure looks like a fool's errand.
Billy Wayne Baker, who's doing seven consecutive life sentences in the Union Correctional Institute for a two-year spree of rape and murder, insists that he's the victim of rank injustice: He only killed five of those women. Ordinarily, his protestations would fall on indifferent ears, but they've managed to intrigue a wealthy fan who's willing to pay Longly Investigations, the brainchild of Jake's father, to revisit Billy Wayne's checkered history. There are a couple of caveats that would turn away anyone but Jake, whose professed distance from his father keeps getting overridden by his willingness to work with him (A-List, 2017, etc.). Ray Longly's client wants to remain anonymous, and Billy Wayne refuses to reveal which of his two alleged victims were actually somebody else's. His averral that he doesn't want to prejudice the investigation makes no sense, but it does set up the promise of a highly original kind of mystery that, sadly, Lyle resolves before you can bleat "wrongly accused," narrowing the field of possible outlier victims with indecent haste so that Jake, Ray, and his behemoth operative, Pancake, can get down to the infinitely less interesting business of ignoring more than half the murders in order to place virtually every citizen of Pine Key, Florida, under a microscope, provoking an eighth homicide along the way, so that they can determine whodunit.
If you can overlook the wildly implausible premise, medical specialist Lyle provides suitably gossipy small-town atmosphere, straightforward plotting, a likable, wisecracking hero, and, of course, solid forensics. But that's an awful lot to overlook.
