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    Greasing the Piñata by Tim Maleeny

Greasing the Piñata: Book summary and reviews of Greasing the Piñata by Tim Maleeny

Greasing the Piñata

Greasing the Piñata
by Tim Maleeny
Published in USA Dec 2008,
247 pages.

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Greasing the Piñata Summary

Greasing the Piñata is a novel about family, politics, and the devastating effects of tequila on a private detective's investigative abilities. It is the third novel in the Cape Weathers series, and the first to be published in hardcover.

A former U.S. Senator vanishes days after his son goes missing. When they're both found dead on a golf course, body parts missing, in Mexico, the Senator's estranged daughter Rebecca resolves to discover what happened.

Private investigator Cape Weathers doesn't really want the case. He can't stand politicians and doesn't know the terrain. But when it looks like the daughter may become the next victim, Cape crosses the border looking for answers.

Cape asks his deadly companion Sally, trained by the Hong Kong Triads, to watch his back as he stumbles onto a conspiracy that leads from corporate boardrooms in San Francisco to strongholds in Mexico. Together they confront a killer determined to bury the past along with anyone trying to dig it up.

Miles away from home and nowhere near finding the answers, Cape manages to get kidnapped, steal from the mob, piss off the DEA, alienate the local police, confound a computer genius, and somehow lose the client he's been protecting all along.

Greasing the Piñata Reviews

"Maleeny smoothly mixes wry humor and a serious plot without sacrificing either in his third Cape Weathers mystery (after 2007's Beating the Babushka)." - Publishers Weekly.

"Definitely not for the faint of heart but just right for readers who like a gritty crime novel with a labyrinth of plot twists." - Library Journal.

"The Cape Weathers novels are smart, snappily written, energetic mysteries starring an engaging hero." - Booklist.

The information about Greasing the Piñata shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.

Greasing the Piñata Reader Reviews

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Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Talya
Greasing the Piñata - Cape Weathers, PI
This is the third and in my opinion, the best Cape Weathers' Investigation novel. The characters are all very unique, including the reappearance of Sally, the beautiful trained assassin sidekick. The novel includes politics, drugs, the environment, and murder--everything to make a great crime novel. I hope to see more from Tim Maleeny and Cape Weathers.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Brenda
Fun but forgettable
I found this book to be a bit lacking. The story line is fun, but really needs to be tightened up. I feel that the author was trying to pack too many ideas into one story. There are a lot of characters and it became confusing trying to keep them all straight, I don't think they were developed enough as characters to care about them, with the exception of the main two. There were some really great "one-liners" in the book and that kept it fun. But... the short chapters, instead of keeping the book moving, I felt slowed it down for me. It skipped around too much, I would have to look backwards to try to figure out who we were talking about now, especially if I was picking it up a day or so after the last time I read from it.

I think there is real potential for a good fun read, but I don't think it was achieved.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Patricia
Greasing The Pinata
As a voracious reader of mystery stories, I was intrigued by the characters, a male PI and his female side kick, an Asian Martial Arts protector. The setting occurred in the US as well as Mexico and the theme naturally involved drugs. I found the author has a knack for very unconventional characters and this was somewhat off putting to me. I enjoy unconventional characters but not every character needs a strange trait.

The storyline was certainly current with a tie into the environment but much of the important parts of the story were developed through conversation as oppose to action. I guess I like my characters to do it the old fashion way, the gum shoe way.

The book was well written and very readable. The thesis was a new twist on the drug cartels but this book did not make my all time ten best list.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Henrietta
'Greasing the Pinate
Maleeny gives us a "slice of life" in Mob circles in this fictional account of revenge, torture, and murder. Balancing the violence and plethora of four-letter words, detective Cape Weathers brings wit and intelligence in brief reprieves. This story is a quick read, a fast-paced thriller with well drawn characters and vivid descriptions.
Cape and Sally, his Chinese ally, make an intriguing couple.

I would not recommend this book to either of my book clubs, however, because graphic torture scenes and bad language are not generally appreciated.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Jill
FUN, FAST AND EASY!
Anything can happen in Mexico. And pretty much everything happens to P.I. Cape Weathers in a mystery that starts with a couple of dead bodies in a golf course water hazard and doesn’t end until the Mexican Mafia, a Chinese Triad alum and a few U.S. politicians have made an appearance—and gotten a little sweaty, testy or dead.
All the while, Weathers keeps batting at the piñata that is his case: Who killed his client’s father and brother and why?
This Mexican party has Weathers getting fairly beaten around himself in a mystery that, chapter by chapter, will keep you reading at break-finger pace!
Enjoy this one on your own—while not a beach read by any stretch, this is a novel much more suited to personal enjoyment than a deep discussion by your local book club. Tim Maleeny’s Cape Weathers is a guy you want to savor on your own; and at your own pace. Like your first boyfriend, he probably won’t stand up to a lot of in-depth scrutiny, but he is a hell of a lot of fun!

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Gary
greasing the pinata
Cape Weathers, ex reporter turned P.I.,takes on a case involving politicians,mafiosi,and the drug cartel,for his client,which takes him from his home base of San Francisco to Mexico. Enlisting the aid of his friend Sally, he encounters adventures and plot twists to keep you guessing till the end! A very enjoyable read. A straight ahead P.I. mystery, Poison Pen Press really impresses with their quality reads. I might even join the mystery of the month club. With a line like,"the moon was a full as a drunkards bladder" how can you miss! read it!

...8 more reader reviews

This is Maleeney's third Cape Weathers novel following Stealing the Dragon (2007) and Beating the Babushka (2007).

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