Killer Vibes by Jack Friday (2026)
I am happy to be among the first to welcome an all new quirky detective who promises to become the most unlikely crime solver ever. But give him a shot because he's brighter than he looks and the first case that falls into his lap involves severe home renovation, a stash of cash in the wallpaper, vicious thugs, a lost lost cousin, a sexy bank officer and lethal explosives.
Peter Key's a shiftless, bisexual Texas slacker who holds no great ambitions beyond getting high and doing as little as possible. Suddenly, via a recently passed away long lost uncle, he's the inheritor of a crumbling Austin mansion. The place looks ready for 10 episodes of "Hoarders" and to Peter's dismay, also comes with massive debt from loans the uncle took out from the local bank. The neighborhood also comes equipped with a host of aggressive, intrusive people who want Peter to sell them his house immediately.
But our budding, would-be ace detective smells something rotten besides the junk piled up in his dumpy abode. And it all leads to the tangled web his uncle left behind and whose traffic accident death appears more suspicious than ever. . Luckily for Peter, he manages to fall under the protection and mentorship of a seasoned Private Eye. That's a good thing indeed considering the sinister threatening people who've come out of the woodwork. none of them with Peter's best interests at heart.
I loved the undercurrent of dry, dark humor that runs throughout the book and I only wish there was more of it or at least a little more overt. I got a kick out of watching the initially unwilling Peter discover his perceptive talent for sniffing out who's up to no good and why. To everyone's surprise, including his own, Peter finds something he's actually good at. And his exciting climactic showdown with a truly creepy major villain is reminiscent of John Dl McDonald's 'Travis McGee' series.
So I extend a warm welcome to Peter Key as he joins the hallowed halls of oddball detectives and look forward to his next case (as well as the little Scooby-Doo bunch of friends and allies he collected on this first outing.
Peter Key's a shiftless, bisexual Texas slacker who holds no great ambitions beyond getting high and doing as little as possible. Suddenly, via a recently passed away long lost uncle, he's the inheritor of a crumbling Austin mansion. The place looks ready for 10 episodes of "Hoarders" and to Peter's dismay, also comes with massive debt from loans the uncle took out from the local bank. The neighborhood also comes equipped with a host of aggressive, intrusive people who want Peter to sell them his house immediately.
But our budding, would-be ace detective smells something rotten besides the junk piled up in his dumpy abode. And it all leads to the tangled web his uncle left behind and whose traffic accident death appears more suspicious than ever. . Luckily for Peter, he manages to fall under the protection and mentorship of a seasoned Private Eye. That's a good thing indeed considering the sinister threatening people who've come out of the woodwork. none of them with Peter's best interests at heart.
I loved the undercurrent of dry, dark humor that runs throughout the book and I only wish there was more of it or at least a little more overt. I got a kick out of watching the initially unwilling Peter discover his perceptive talent for sniffing out who's up to no good and why. To everyone's surprise, including his own, Peter finds something he's actually good at. And his exciting climactic showdown with a truly creepy major villain is reminiscent of John Dl McDonald's 'Travis McGee' series.
So I extend a warm welcome to Peter Key as he joins the hallowed halls of oddball detectives and look forward to his next case (as well as the little Scooby-Doo bunch of friends and allies he collected on this first outing.
4 stars (****).
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