A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand by D.I. Jolly

Title: A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand

Author: D.I. Jolly

Publisher: Raider Publishing International

Date of publication: August 20th, 2010

Genre: Mystery, Humor

Number of pages: 260

POV: 1st person

Where you can find A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

A quirky tongue-in-cheek story about a detective with a difference, and it’s not his caffeine addiction or his strange collection of friends. Through the course of three cases, Jones P.I. starts to discover that maybe he doesn’t know everything about life, love, and everything. Syn Island a man-made island created as a maximum security prison when left for a few generations becomes one of the world’s strongest economies, exporting brainpower and work ethic. Now, it’s a city like any other filled with jazz, crime mobsters, and dark alleyways, and it lends itself to a few night-time adventures. Like all good detective stories, this one starts with a woman in a red dress, and as we follow our hero through a strange maze of misunderstandings, mistresses, and bars we start to learn that a little bit of crazy is what will keep you sane on the streets of Syn Island. And then, of course, there’s Jeff…

My review:

I genuinely enjoyed reading A Guy, a Girl, and a Voodoo Monkey Hand and I am becoming a big fan of D.I. Jolly. This book is a smorgasbord of genres and it was a hoot to read. When I was reading it, I thought of Dick Tracy but instead of being serious, this PI had a sense of humor….even when people were trying to kill him.

I truly liked Jones, even if he seemed to have a huge target on his back the entire book. He was a ladies man, had a thing for dark-haired women in tight red dresses, loved to drink and really liked jazz. He was also a softy. I mean, he protected Greg, a giant gorilla-like man who had the mind and soul of a child, and Sandra, the sister of the piano man of the bar that he used to go to. He also was one the few who were trying to protect Syn Island when everything went sideways.

I loved the action scenes in this book (and there were a lot of them). I have read a lot of romances lately and this book was a refreshing change of scenery for me.

The humor in this book was also a plus for me. I mean, a talking voodoo monkey hand named Jeff who talks with an English accent? I was rolling when he was talking to Jones and directing him on what to do. It was pretty funny. Plus, some of the situations he got himself into and the people he meets were pretty funny too.

Altogether, I really enjoyed the book. I liked that I got to see a seedier side of Syn Island than what was portrayed in the other books by D.I. Jolley. I am hoping that more books will be written with Jones in it.

How many stars will I give A Guy, a Girl and a Voodoo Monkey Hand: 4

Why: Memorable characters and a great plotline

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Adult

Why: Violence and language

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**