Sidewalk Saint

February 8, 2016
Set in 1974 in Fry’s Bay, Fla., this appealing first in a new series from Edgar-winner DePoy (December’s Thorn and six other Fever Devlin mysteries) introduces colorful Foggy Moscowitz, who once stole cars in his native Brooklyn. When Nurse Maggie Redhawk tells Foggy, who now works as an investigator for Child Protective Services, that addict Lynette Baker, a new mother, has fled the hospital with her sick baby, who needs medicine to survive, Foggy goes on a successful hunt for the baby. Later, members of the Tribal Council of the Seminole Nation take Lynette and her baby to their swamp. Foggy’s efforts to find the baby bring him into contact with a slew of characters, including Seminole sage John Horse, with competing interests. The baby is the key, and Foggy must figure out why before he can act. DePoy’s lively mix of Seminole history and the wry observations of a “Yankee Jew criminal” make for an amusing tale. Agent: Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary Management.

March 1, 2016

In 1971 car thief Foggy Moskowitz fled to Fry's Bay, FL, and reinvented himself as an investigator for Child Protective Services, trying to atone for his crimes in Brooklyn. Three years later, he gets a late-night phone call from his boss, who wants him to track down a missing baby taken from the hospital by her junkie mother. He finds the infant as well as mystical Seminoles, land-grubbing billionaires, and other interesting characters. VERDICT DePoy, acclaimed for his "Flap Tucker" (Dead Easy) and "Fever Devilin" (December's Thorn) mysteries, starts a new noir series that introduces a flawed man with a heart of gold. Foggy did a bad thing, and now he lives as though every day is Yom Kippur. Atmospheric and with a hero trying to be better than the circumstances in which he finds himself, this title will remind readers of Sharyn McCrumb's "Ballad" series and Rick Riordan's "Tres Navarre" books.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2019
Foggy Moscowitz fled New York because the cops were after him. He wound up in Florida working for Child Protective Services, and, if that strikes you as a tad outlandish, you're in the wrong novel. Depoy has used Foggy as front man for a rum concoction of action, detection, offbeat humor, and quirky did-you-know scholarship in three earlier novels, and he's at it again. Foggy is asked?at gunpoint?to track down a missing 11-year-old girl for reasons that come clear as the plot unfolds. She was witness to crimes and possesses an astounding memory that the criminals fear. When Foggy catches up to her, their scenes together are more interesting than the one-more-time plot. Foggy reveals his secret weapon: honesty. No one expected it, and "you could take advantage of that." His interrogation technique? Act like you know everything. Make a mistake and they might correct you; then you've got 'em. The girl's vaunted memory is, happily for us, attuned to fourteenth-century English proverbs and debunking ancient Sumerian claims of skinning captured enemies alive. Quirky and thoroughly entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2016
Florida, 1974. Foggy Moskowitz, a Brooklyn car thief on the lam, has managed to wind up in the Sunshine State working for Child Protective Services (the how-he-got-there story is a little far-fetched, but just go with it). Sent out to find a missing babythe child was taken from the hospital, possibly by its drug-addicted motherhe winds up wading knee-deep in conspiracy and a target for murder. The novel is the first in a projected series, and it has a lot going for it: an appealing, offbeat protagonist; a wacky story line; and a real feel for '70s Florida. If further adventures of Foggy Moskowitz continue the Elmore Leonard vibe that DePoy has going here, you can expect this series to have legs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

October 14, 2019
In DePoy’s enjoyable fourth mystery featuring reformed crook Foggy Moscowitz (after 2018’s Icepick), Foggy, who was once “Brooklyn’s finest Jewish car thief,” now lives in Fry’s Bay, Fla., where he has managed to start a new life as a Child Protective Services investigator. He becomes involved in a complex inquiry after Nelson Roan, an escaped prisoner, breaks into his home. At gunpoint, Roan asks Foggy to find his 11-year-old daughter, Etta, who was put into the child welfare system after his wife died of cancer. Foggy tracks the missing girl to Lake City, where he finds that her adoptive parents have moved out of their home and that someone directed the post office to forward their mail to Foggy’s office address. Things only get more mysterious after Foggy learns that gangsters are seeking Etta, who has a photographic memory. DePoy succeeds at making the over-the-top elements plausible in this effective blend of humor and an original plotline. Readers will hope to see a lot more of Foggy. Agent: Janet Reid, New Leaf Literary.

October 1, 2019
A car thief-turned-agent for Florida Child Protective Services defends an 11-year-old girl from a wide array of predators. There's nothing like a gun in your face to wake you up from a dream about your Aunt Shayna's brisket, as Foggy Moscowitz discovers one morning in 1976. Nelson Roan, the man behind the gun, has broken out of prison to find his daughter, Etta, and he needs help from Foggy. Fry's Bay is a long way from Brooklyn, where Foggy grew up, and his current job for the state under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is a big change from his former career of boosting cars. But it's Foggy's way of making amends for his criminal past. The next morning, Roan is gone, but Foggy's still determined to find Etta, who has an eidetic memory, apparently knows something that a good many other people would like to know, and has been adopted by a couple who may not have her best interests at heart. A few secret messages from Etta, including one on her dog's collar, lead Foggy to the child, who's a person of such interest to mobsters from both Manhattan and Montreal as well as a couple of dirty cops and the FBI that Foggy decides to stash her with his friend John Horse, the tribal boss of the local Seminoles. Added to a flourishing marijuana trade, a casino venture, Etta's father's recent murder of the doctor who treated Etta's mother, a switch of identities in the local hospital, and the possibility that at least two of the people in the fray aren't who they say they are is the ongoing mystery of what Etta knows that puts her life at such risk. For all his craftiness, it's hard work for Foggy, even with Aunt Shayna's intervention, to stay one step ahead in his brisk and wryly funny fourth caper (Icepick, 2018, etc.). No one can con a con like an ex-con with a good heart and even better friends.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.