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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312192952
ISBN: 0312192959
Label: Thomas Dunne Books
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
Book Pages: 248
Publication Date: 1998-11
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Studio: Thomas Dunne Books

E.C. Ayers's Hour of the Manatee won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America award, and his subsequent P.I. novels, all with an environmental undertone, have garnered nothing but high marks from readers. In the fourth outing for Ayers's Florida P.I., Tony Lowell, the detective travels west to answer an urgent plea from his daughter Ariel.

A good friend of Ariel's, a Hispanic woman from Santa Fe, has disappeared and all indications point to foul play. Tony reluctantly agrees to go to Santa Fe to track down the missing woman. Assisted by his old acquaintance P.I. Joshua Croft, and, at Ariel's insistence, a New Age mystic, Lowell soon finds himself in over his head in a situation involving deeply divided cultures, traditions, and a general western mistrust of outsiders.

Stubbornly pressing forward, Lowell discovers that the missing woman, Alicia Sandoval, was once married to a violent felon who has continued to stalk her. He then discovers something even more chilling: The felon, a locally popular man, was previously married to a woman who also disappeared, and whose remains have just been found in a high mountain cave.

One of the last Sixties holdouts, Tony Lowell is a man with a conscience and a knack for getting embroiled in the most harrowing of situations. Ayres does not disappoint in his latest mystery, and delves deep into the exploration of the rigid Mexican-American traditional mores of the Southwest.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Florida's Tony Lowell in Santa Fe on a mystery
Review:

Santa Fe resident Ariel Lowell pleads with her father, private investigator Tony Lowell, to leave the Florida Gulf Coast and come to New Mexico on a visit. Tony immediately drops everything and laves for the southwest because he will do anything he can for his beloved daughter.

In Santa Fe, Tony learns that Ariel, based on some New Age razzle-dazzle wants him to look for a missing friend, Alicia Sandoval. With the help of a sleuthing peer and some weirdo mystic, Tony begins his search. He soon learns that Alicia's former spouse Danny Lopez has been stalking the missing woman and that his previous wife's bones have only recently been discovered in the nearby mountains. However, none of the natives take Danny, a vicious individual, seriously because a man has to do what a man has to do. This leaves it up to Tony and his cohorts to keep Alicia safe.

The fourth Tony Lowell mystery, LAIR OF THE LIZARD, has some great strengths and a major weakness. The readers have an opportunity to observe Tony struggle with a different culture and gain insight into his relationship with his flighty daughter. The case is well designed, relevant, and interesting. The interactions between the prime players (Tony and his team, Ariel, Alicia, and Danny) keep the essence of their character intact. Though E.C. Ayres shows he is a talented mystery writer, his novel falls short with his portrayal of every Santa Fe resident refusing to accept the obvious fact that Danny is a dangerous lunatic. Still, this is a very good entry in a fine series.

Harriet Klausner

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