Hot Seat

by Simon Wood

Overview

Things are looking good for Aidy Westlake following events from Did Not Finish. He's Pit Lane magazine's Young Driver of the Year, which has earned him a drive in the European Saloon Car Championship. But his good fortune ends at a race car show when he discovers Jason Gates, a mechanic from a rival team, with his throat cut. The murder sets off a disturbing chain reaction - someone is breaking the rules in the ranks of saloon car racing, on and off the track. What They Are Saying About Hot Seat: "Watch Aidy get into one jam after the next." - Kirkus "You can't stop reading." - Booklist "Racing scenes enliven the action as Aidy tries to extricate himself from trouble by trapping a killer." - Publishers Weekly "High octane thrills all the way, with an especially exciting grand finale!" - Book 'Em Mysteries

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781494778866
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	03/05/2014
Series:	Aidy Westlake Mysteries , #2
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

Simon Wood is a California transplant from England. He's a former competitive racecar driver, a licensed pilot, an endurance cyclist and an occasional PI. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. Their lives are dominated by a longhaired dachshund and four cats. He's the Anthony Award winning author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper, Terminated, Asking For Trouble, We All Fall Down and the Aidy Westlake series. His latest thriller is NO SHOW, the first in the Terry Sheffield mysteries. He also write horror under the pen name of Simon Janus. Curious people can learn more at http://www.simonwood.net.

Editorial Reviews

At the start of Wood’s solid second racecar mystery (after 2011’s Did Not Finish), 21-year-old driver Aidy Westlake, who’s pleased to have won a spot on Ragged Racing’s European Saloon Car Championship team, is dismayed to discover mechanic Jason Gates with his throat cut underneath a vehicle at the annual motorsport show held at London’s Earls Court. First, Det. Insp. Joan Huston treats him like a suspect, then Jason’s beefy brother, Andrew, knocks him around and demands Aidy identify the killer. Between trying to please racing owner Richard “Rags” Ragsdale and learning to work with his new pit crew and car, Aidy tries to do a little investigating, but soon finds himself facing trumped up charges of dangerous driving. Professional jealousies, possible drug smuggling, and race-fixing provide motives and suspects. Racing scenes enliven the action as Aidy tries to extricate himself from trouble by trapping a killer. Agent: Amy Rennert, the Amy Rennert Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Talented racing driver Aidy Westlake makes his sophomore outing (Did Not Finish), moving on from Formula Ford to the European Saloon Car Championship. He has barely had a minute to revel in his new success when he inadvertently trips over a knifing victim. Suspiciously, Jason (the dead guy), a mechanic for a competing team, was next to Aidy's team transport van. Seeking vengeance, Jason's brother insists that Aidy find the killer—outside of the law. Before long, the government's customs agents want Aidy to investigate undercover because they suspect Aidy's team is smuggling drugs in their cars. How is a guy supposed to concentrate on his day job with all the cloak-and-dagger activity here? Aidy is lucky to have his own investigative team: grandfather Steve and best buddy Dylan. VERDICT Throttle up for a thrilling ride and a dynamic climax. Despite the story's nearly overwhelming number of bad guys, Wood makes it easy for readers to keep up. Racing aficionados will love the details about the sport and welcome Aidy's continued sleuthing success.

Library Journal

A second case for British race car driver Aidy Westlake reads like a carbon copy of his first (Did Not Finish, 2011), with heat indiscriminatingly applied. His nomination as Pit Lane magazine's Young Driver of the Year has catapulted Aidy from the Formula One circuit to the European Saloon Car Championship. Richard Ragsdale, his new boss at Ragged Racing, has paired Aidy with ESCC champ Kurt Haulk and sung his praises to the world. His presentation at Pit Lane's Racecar Show and Exhibition at Earls Court is a night to treasure--until the departing Aidy stumbles over the form of mechanic Jason Gates, dying from a cut throat. From this point on, Aidy's troubles rapidly multiply. DI Joan Huston makes it plain that she considers Aidy her top suspect in the killing. The following day he's kidnapped by henchman Dominic Crichlow, bound and hooded, and taken to Jason's brother Andrew, a loan shark who accuses Aidy of the murder and then demands that he unmask the real culprit if he wants to keep his grandfather, classic-car restorer Steve Westlake, healthy. An angry driver on the Runnymede roundabout nearly collides with Steve, then tells the local police that he crashed into her car. En route to deliver a sponsor's car to Munich, Aidy gets picked up in France by cops who find cocaine in the vehicle and gets blackmailed into spying on Ragsdale's operation. And that's before the sponsor's car gets stolen. It's easy to see why Ragsdale tells his new employee: "You have fantastic talent for calamity." Somewhere along the line Jason's killer gets brought to book. But it's much more entertaining to watch Aidy get into one jam after the next. His laps around the racetrack must provide the most relaxing hours of his life.

Kirkus Reviews