Robert Heinlein - The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag
Robert A. Heinlein, the celebrated author of Stranger in a Strange Land, interrupts the lives of two ordinary people for a terrifying night-ride alo ng the interface between reality and . . . our world. "One of the grand masters of science fiction."
July 12, 1939 Perry Nelson is driving along the palisades when suddenly another vehicle swerves into his lane, a tire blows out, and his car careens off the road and over a bluff. The last thing he sees before his head connects with the boulders below is a girl in a green bathing suit, prancing along the shore....
The much-loved amateur sleuth Fran Varady finds herself investigating an old love affair and a family quarrel. Edna, the dotty bag lady who Fran Varady used to see living in a churchyard with only feral cats for company, has crossed her path again. Now Edna is staying in a hostel, spending her days roaming as before.
Fran Varady isn't keen to help seedy club owner Mickey Allerton track down Lisa, a dancer who's done a bunk. But since Mickey's holding Fran's dog Bonnie hostage till the job's done, she doesn't have much choice. She quickly locates Lisa and they arrange to meet - but when Fran gets there early, the first thing she sees is a body floating in the river. It's Ivo, one of Mickey's nastier bouncers. If Lisa wasn't terrified already, she is when she gets this news, and Fran finds herself torn between helping the frightened girl and doing Mickey's bidding. And it's all about to get a lot more complicated...
Fran Varady fell into private detective work by accident rather than design. Now she's got a 'real' job at a trendy pizzeria, she's back on track with her acting ambitions, and she's even found a nice flat to rent. But things aren't as straightforward as they seem. The job, for a start: there's something rather sinister about the way the pizzeria is run. And the play rehearsals aren't going well.
