All Shook Up: An Eddie Dancer Mystery

Henry G. MacLeod teaches sociology at Trent University and the
University of Waterloo.

Eddie Dancer, a former police officer, is a private investigator in
Calgary, Alberta. When a bank robber with an unusual tattoo tries to
hire him to find his missing partner who has made off with all the loot
from their recent job, Dancer turns him down. But when the second thief
appears with the same request, Eddie is hooked. Bringing them together,
he establishes that they have both been duped by a third man. Dancer
finds the man behind the scam in prison for armed robbery. What started
as a simple double cross pits him against a crime operation being run
out of a prison.

Locating the original robber has led Dancer to a pair of nasty tattoo
artists. During a stakeout of their parlour, he witnesses an underaged
prostitute whom he has befriended being forced into their house. When
she is brought out a few minutes later almost comatose, he wonders what
he has stumbled upon. He takes her to the local hospital where he meets
and falls for a nurse, Cindy Palmer. The young prostitute seems to be a
victim of substance abuse, but Cindy learns that she is the 30th victim
in two years of severe brain damage. Dancer decides it is time for
reinforcements and calls on his buddy Danny Many Guns to watch his back
and help him catch the bad guys.

All Shook Up is a suspenseful first novel by Mike Harrison that will
please fans of modern hard-boiled detective novels. It has lighter and
darker moments, a fast pace, interesting characters, and an intriguing
plot. Its use of many local landmarks will appeal to readers familiar
with Calgary. This fun read is a promising start to a new mystery
series.