4/20/12

The First Rule of Ten by Gay Hendricks, Tinker Lindsay


★★★½
Genre: Mystery
Subject: con artists, buddhist monk, ex-cop
Setting: Los Angeles, CA and surrounding area
Main Characters: Tenzing Norbu,
Series: #1 A Tenzing Norbu Mystery (Dharma Detective)
Dates Read: April 13 - April 19
Number of pages: 312
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, Net Galley stockpile
Category for 12 in 12 challenge:

The first Rule of Ten is "If you're open to learning, you get your life lessons delivered as gently as the tickle of a feather." Sounds very philosophical, right? Something from the Dalai Lama? This is how we begin the story of Tenzing (Ten) Norbu, a former Tibetan monk turned LA Cop, now private investigator. He didn't accept the tickle, instead he got hit like a sledgehammer with a bullet grazing his head. Deciding that his life as a Police Homicide cop is over, he begins to put together his plans to be a PI.

The very first day, however, he's presented with a mystery that seems to be "tickling" him. Barbara Mazey, a total stranger comes to his door searching for his landlord. Unsure about giving the information out, she leaves but comes back to haunt him when he is contacted by his old police partner to identify her body.

The mystery continues to evolve, placing Ten in danger as well as some of the people that he meets during his investigation. Trying to decide how to proceed Ten meditates frequently remembering that "life demands that we face the consequences of our actions, and sometimes it boils down to a series of sweaty 10 minute conversations that you're willing to have or not."

I loved this mystery. The writing was clean, the characters were well-developed yet left room for growth. The details/aspects of his life as a monk were so well incorporated that I wanted to say More! More! quite frequently. Looking forward to the next installment.

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