Lora Hates Spam

by J.D. Hawkins

The lion tamer has been killed. Was it an accident? Or did someone set him up? It is the job of John Nieves, insurance investigator, to find out.

This book was wonderfully atmospheric. The author's bio points out that he's an ex-Carny, so he knows the difference between a circus and a carnival which is important to me with this kind of setting.

It has some great sideways humour, especially concerning the big cats. As a Mystery it provides a good collection of suspects. The Great Rollo had a lot of enemies, even among his own family.

I loved the interaction of characters and the behind the scenes glimpses of how a Puerto Rican from New York ended up as a Midwest insurance investigator, but most of all the tricks the circus people play on him had me laughing and I think I'm in love with the panther. He reminds me of my cat, Jasper.

The ending wasn't the sort of big shock, one person you didn't think of and I had my suspicions before it got there, but the story was enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes circus stories.