Reduced Circumstances

by: Vincent H. O'Neil

Published by: Thomas Dunne Books

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid

Frank Cole is a bankrupt businessman trying to keep a low profile. He has relocated to Exile, Florida. Frank is currently working as a dispatcher at Midnight Taxi Service. This is a piece of cake for Frank. He has been advised to keep his income low so his creditors can’t come after him, and the dispatcher job takes care of that quite adequately. Living on a tight budget has also caused Frank to lose a lot of weight.

Beth Ann Thiebedault is Frank’s girlfriend since moving to Exile. Beth Ann is encouraging Frank to take up something besides dispatching. Frank has done some fact checking for local firms and seems to have a special talent for it. Beth Ann is trying to encourage Frank in that direction.

Frank enjoys the Midnight Taxi Service. Most of the guys are hard working and fun loving. When Billy Lee, one of the drivers, picks up a kid leaving the Seaview Motel just as the police are making a drug bust, things start livening up around the Midnight Taxi headquarters. Soon Frank has some strange characters showing up and asking questions about the boy who may be older than he appears and may have more than one name.

When Frank learns that the kid Billy Lee picked up at The Seaview has been murdered, he becomes more deeply involved in the case than would be expected for a taxi dispatcher. Curtis Winslow, a private investigator, shows up and states he is working for the victim’s family. Curtis and Frank hit it off and Curtis begins to pay Frank for his assistance in the case.

After several wrong turns Frank finally gets to the bottom of what really happened the night the kid jumped in the Midnight Taxi Service cab as he left The Seaview Motel.

Armchair Interviews says: Reduced Circumstances is an interesting story, not lacking in humor, with a surprise ending in store for the reader.

Author’s Web site: http://www.VincentHOneil.com