Retro Reading: Ink Flamingo's by Karen E. Olson
Mistaken Identities and Stalking Lead to Murder
For the last few years, Ink Flamingos has sat on my bookshelf as I've waited anxiously for another installment. My first thought was the series had ended abruptly, but while editing this I found out it isn't so.
One of Brett's celebrity clients, the lead singer of the Flamingos, is found dead in a no star hotel just off the Strip in Las Vegas. Dee Carmichael has always trusted Brett to do her ink and it's discovered that she died of an allergic reaction to the ink. Brett had been aware of her allergy and finds it somewhat strange that Dee would have the tattoo's filled in with color.
However, Dee's death isn't the only thing concerning Brett. It seems there's some woman roaming the city impersonating the tall redhead. Of course, that's not all. Brett's pictures start popping up on a blog (something she hadn't known about) but almost immediately current pictures appear and now she has a stalker.
To make matters worse, a new link to a new website pops up which supposedly is written by her. The hits against Brett keep coming.
While Brett's brother, Tim, a detective for the Las Vegas Police knows she's innocent, his life is also in danger as they arrive home one night to find that someone has broken into their house. The disturbing part: a plastic flamingo covered in red paint on Brett's bed.
As Brett and crew begin looking for clues, her former nemesis, Jeff Coleman, who over the course of the series has grown into a friend, lets his romantic feelings show. Now Brett has to figure out if she feels the same way while he helps gather information regarding Dee's murder.
In the past, I've said this series would make an excellent TV show. With four installments to the series there's enough material for four seasons and each novel has original plots. Take notice Hollywood!
Olson's time at the "tattoo parlors" has paid off in my opinion, although the ending is open. Her characters have been fun to spend time with and the descriptive writing has been top notch. You actually get the feeling that you're in Vegas amongst these characters. Many times I was tempted to book a flight just to visit the sites mentioned. Through her eyes I had a better time than when I actually went there once (really twice but the second time has been erased from my memory).
