More Than a Body — Peter Marabell

“I can't let Rick Morgan kill my brother.” “You could get caught in the crossfire. These are nasty people and that includes your femme fatale Clare Morgan.” “You're probably right. But what am I supposed to do? Leave him out there to die?” It's Chicago, the summer of 1992, and Frank Marshall, an investigator for a prominent Michigan Avenue law firm, helps his brother, Tom, out of a deadly fix that resulted from Tom's affair with the blond and beautiful Clare Morgan. Mafia tough guy, Rick Morgan, has vowed to get his wife back, kill Tom Marshall, and find out what happened to one million dollars in cash. Frank agrees to help because he doesn't want to abandon his brother, and he sees a way to settle an old score with Morgan. Ellen Paxton, Frank's longtime partner, is none too happy about either task. From the streets of Chicago's North Side to a deadly confrontation at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, More Than a Body is a tense and sexy thriller. Marabell's locations and style echo both Parker and Hemingway, while his character development certainly aims to challenge those more tradition models.... I loved the detail, especially once the locations shift to Paris. -- Peter Olson