There are books that leave you staring at the wall at their depth and literary magic, and there are dry, dull tomes filled with facts and figures, guaranteed to cure your insomnia if you aren't careful—particularly in audio format. J. A. Konrath's Whiskey Sour is neither of those things. It's very simply a fun book.

Lieutenant Jacqueline Daniels (Jack) is a tight mix of humor and grit who is wildly comical at times, and very real at others. Her partner, the over-weight and food-addicted Herb is a great straight-man, and not a bad partner, and even Jack's ex partner turned sleazy PI gets in a few choice moments of "play."

The case is simple—women are being killed. Brutally. The killer is not only cutting them up badly, but he is leaving his semen inside the cuts. There doesn't seem to be a pattern, and yet it's obviously the work of one killer. And he knows who she is.

Meanwhile, there are FBI agents thrown in for comic relief, bombarding Jack with their "profile" of the killer which at one time is a French Canadian who owns a horse. Between their threats of taking over her case and ridiculous requests for man power to stake out local stables they make just the sort of distraction that allows the killer to almost take our heroine out more than once. In fact, if Jack wasn't an insomniac, well . . .

The presentation is smooth. Normally, I prefer audio books to have a single, talented narrator throughout. In this case, Brilliance teamed up one man and one woman to play the various voices and parts, and it works quite well. The action carries you rapidly from scene to scene and from personal problem to public hell so fast you may find yourself wondering how it happened.

In short, Whiskey Sour is a very entertaining listen/read and well worth the time it takes you to get to know Lieutenant Daniels, who I am certain we have not heard the last of. A brilliant debut by one of the up-and-coming voices in mystery and thrillers.