Her other case seems simple enough; find a TV celebrity's missing father. The catch comes when Zen learns she's being trailed by a mob hitman. When Zen finds the missing man, only to find that she has led a killer straight to him, she begins to realize that someone is setting her up.

Zen is one tough character. She begins the day with a dead cat, notification of an IRS audit, and being questioned by the police about Danny, and things just get worse from there, but she never quits with the wisecracks. She's about as hard boiled as private detectives get, right down to the scary sidekick. This one is named Bobo, and he seems like he could be pretty interesting, though he remains a mystery in this episode. That is only one of the many interesting relationships hinted at that I could wish had been explored in more depth. Zen interested me, but I didn't really get to know her all that well.

Still, Zen and the Art of Murder is a promising and enjoyable first novel. While there are a lot of elements familiar to long time mystery readers, Elizabeth Cosin adds a fresh voice and a wry humor to the mix. The pace is fast, the mood dark, and there were enough twists and turns of plot to keep me wondering. This was a good read, and I'll be interested in seeing what Zen gets up to in the next book.

--Jeri Wright