KK02 - Kookaburra Gambit

“A romping good time!”—LesbiaNation.com on The Wombat StrategyOwning half a detective agency is not as exciting as it sounds when your partner won’t let you solve any cases. Transplanted Aussie Kylie Kendall is frustrated as all get out, and she spends most of her time hanging out with her receptionist and sampling the Los Angeles nightlife. But that’s about to change. Twins Alf and Chica Hartnidge, the hosts of Australia’s hit children’s television show The Oz Mob, hire Kylie to find out who’s smuggling opals into the United States inside their Kelvin Kookaburra plush toys. A syndication deal and a load of money are riding on whether Kylie will shut down the smugglers, but a murder (or two) makes the stakes even higher.Claire McNab is the author of The Wombat Strategy, as well as 18 other best-selling mystery novels. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles.From BooklistG'day! Meet Kelvin Kookaburra, Korinna Koala, and Penny Platypus, Muppet-like members of the Oz Mob, a Australian kids' hit TV show, whose plush toy re-creations are coming soon to L.A. Then, in an initial shipment of the stuffed animals, Kelvin's soft belly is used to smuggle exquisite Australian black opals. Oz Mob creators Alf and Chicka Hartnidge, identical twins, can't afford the bad press or any other impediments to a potentially huge movie deal, bankrolled by a Christian film company, that they're working out, so they seek out private investigator Kylie Kendall. Newly relocated from Down Under to L.A., Kylie isn't sure she's up to the task, but more than the puppets' morals are at stake--the contraband's value exceeds $100,000. As McNab's well-paced confection proceeds, family pressure coaxes Kylie back home to Wollegudgerie to help mum with the family pub, and our heroine develops a smoldering attraction to her cool, savvy L.A. business partner. A good read whose easily understood Aussie expressions add flavor. That's fair go. Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedAbout the AuthorTransplanted Aussie Claire McNab moved to Los Angeles more than a decade ago. As a stranger, she found living in America at times startling and puzzling, but often delightful. She has taken these experiences and woven them into her Kylie Kendall comedic m