Book Review – 2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson and Candice Fox – Captivating Novel
Table of Contents
My Rating – 4 out of 5
Plot Summary (Story-line) – 2 Sisters Detective Agency
The two authors here have earlier collaborated for the Harriet Blue series and they’ve all turned out to be pretty good! Candice Fox, on her own, is a fantastic writer herself, not just in Australia but over the globe as well. Her latest solo novel, The Chase, is reviewed here. Here though, the two bestselling authors come together for a stand alone novel, though at the end of it there are hints that there might be a sequel or more. The coming together of these two also highlight that co-author leaves his/her imprint on the novel quite distinctively, which in itself, is a highlight of these James Patterson collaborations. Now let’s get on with the story…
Rhonda Bird, a lawyer in Colorado, represents a lot of teenage delinquents, from minor to major infractions, and though not financially enriching, it does give her a sense of fulfillment. But one day, her life undergoes a dramatic change! A lawyer calls up from LA, saying he represents Rhonda’s long estranged father, Early Bird (!) and that he’s passed away from a stroke. But there’s something that he has to discuss with Rhonda, but that can only be done in person, so Rhonda has to travel to LA. Here, Rhonda is torn between her duty and her sense of detachment from a father who has never been there for her, deserting her and her mother at an early stage.
So reluctantly and with a lot of apprehension, she heads to LA to meet with the lawyer and possibly find out about her inheritance or the lack of it. But when she meets the lawyer, the only things she inherits are her father’s Detective Agency and a half-sister, all of 15 years old, called Baby! Yes, the names are a bit cringe-worthy – Early Bird and Baby Bird, but that’s deliberate. Baby is defiant that she will not accept Rhonda in her life and goes on a rampage to prove it. Still struggling to cone to terms with Baby’s tantrums, Rhonda discovers that her father had a dark side to him too, which will put them in the line of danger!
On a parallel line, a gang of five teenagers, led by the daughter of a Russian mobster – Vera Petrov, play a twisted and dangerous game – that of teaching whoever has wronged them, a violent lesson. But they go one step too far, and one of their victims, who is himself a one-time assassin – Jacob Kanula, hunts them down to exact revenge. One of the gang, who happens to be Baby’s friend from school, comes to her for help and thus become the sisters’ first independent case. But Rhonda and Baby, underestimate the seriousness of the challenge and soon realize that their own lives are in danger from the demented Vera Petrov!
Conclusion – Book Review of 2 Sisters Detective Agency
Needless to say, all this happens at a breakneck pace – as is typical of both authors! You just don’t want to out it down and long to go for ‘one more page’… But you keep going! At the beginning, both threads of the story, run simultaneously, and one kind of struggles to the linearity together but around the middle the two storylines come violently together.
For fans of James Patterson and Candice Fox – though this is not their best work together, it isn’t far short of that, and you will tend to finish this at one go and hanker after the next one from the duo! So, no second thoughts, just go for it!!
*I hope you have enjoyed reading this book review as much as I have enjoyed writing this! Do watch this space for more such reviews and navigate through the links below for more… Thank you!! *