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(More customer reviews)Sixty-five and a widower, retired New York City homicide detective Nicholas Chase enjoys owning and running the Happy Smoking Ground, a Cambridge, Massachusetts shop. He becomes excited to learn that Melvin Chandler, multimillionaire owner of Cigars Smokers magazine, plans a book signing of his new autobiography at Nick's store. Not everyone is happy over Melvin's appearance. The Stuff Out Smoking group hates the symbol that Melvin represents and plans to disrupt the proceedings.
The day Melvin arrives at Nick's store, a riot breaks out but no one is seriously hurt. That night at the Mayflower, a maid notices a fire in Melvin's room, puts it out, and sees that the occupant died. With Nick's urgings, the police consider murder with a member of SOS as the prime suspect. However, Nick remembers what Melvin told him about the index in his book containing his most likely killer.
The third "Nothing Satisfies Like a Good Cigar" mystery is an entertaining police procedural that fans will enjoy because, though no longer a cop, Nick is a key member of the investigative team. The story line works because Nick and his cohorts, especially Professor Woolley, seem genuine so that when the star begins his own inquiries they seem real. Though a red herring or two add little to the plot except trying to unnecessarily fool the reader, UP IN SMOKE is a superb tale, but my spouse still needs to step outside when he puffs on that cigar.
Harriet Klausner
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For the love of a good cigar, ex-homicide cop Nicholas Chase abandoned the mean streets of New York City for The Happy Smoking Ground, a cigar store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But more than fine tobacco crosses the threshold of his aromatic domain ...Surgeon General's Warning:Murder May Be Hazardous To Your HealthWhen he opened his smoke shop's doors to the publisher of a slick cigar-lovers' magazine for a book signing, Nick Chase had no idea he was inviting in controversy ... and worse. But it seems the outrageously outspoken Melvin Chandler is as unpopular with his business associates and his own family as lie is with rabid anti-smoking advocates. And when Chandler is found dead in his hotel room -- the victim, apparently, of a careless puffing-in-bed mishap -- Nick can't help but suspectthat the "accident" was merely a smoke screen for murder. Now, armed with a generous supply of good cigars and an investigator's keen understanding of what makes people kill, Nick is lighting out on a hunt for an assassin, a process which, like the cultivation of fine tobacco, requires patient nurturing, perfect timingand an instinct for when to reap the harvest. But like a cheap stogie, something about this case really stinks ... and it could end up burning Nicholas Chase bad.
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