Lori Avocato, The Stiff and the Dead

The Stiff and the Dead

Lori Avocato

Avon, Jul 2005, $6.99

ISBN: 0060731664

After twelve years as a nurse, Pauline Sokol could not take it anymore so she quit. Her roommate Miles got her a job as a fraud claims investigator for Scarpello and Tonelli Insurance Company because his Uncle Fabio owns the firm.

With Miles' boyfriend glitzy transvestite and star investigator Goldie Perlman ill, newbie Pauline is assigned to look into prescription fraud at the Hope Valley Senior Citizens Center. Pauline goes undercover as a senior citizen working as a temporary at the center's pharmacy with Goldie preparing her for her role to observe prime suspect Sophie Banko. Pauline also struggles with the attention given her by two male peers. Nick is a clean cut hunk while Jagger is an exasperating handsome pain. With three advisors to assist her at uncovering the prescription scam at the clinic's pharmacy, Pauline wonders if Goldie can help her better understand her sudden seemingly alive love life that was dormant as a nurse.

The second Pauline Sokol insurance investigation case is an amusing tale that once again focuses in on a medical scam enabling the former nurse simply to go undercover though trying to pretend to be elderly is not that easy accomplished. Her love interest has expanded since mysterious and sexy Jagger introduced her to the job and seemed to want her under the cover with Nick apparently interested in her too. Lori Avocato provides a humorous investigative tale starring a likable flake and her eccentric cronies though at times the quirky behavior distracts from a fine who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner