DIRTY LAUNDRY

Released as OLD SCHOOL TIE in 1994, New Zealander Paul Thomas's outrageous comic crime novel feels like Elmore Leonard on acid. Businessman Victor Appleyard jumps from the Sydney Harbor Bridge with a suitcase of evidence connected to a wealthy woman's death 20 years earlier. Police investigator Tito Ihaka finds himself entangled with the Sydney mafia, a Maori street gang, a small-time loser, and some big-time ex-SAS psychos. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, narrator David Tredinnick deftly maneuvers through Thomas's convoluted plot shifts, witty dialogue, and original characterizations. As blackmail, murder, and double double crosses pile up, Tredinnick's performance matches Thomas's edgy, often hilarious, situations. While not for the squeamish, DIRTY LAUNDRY is a bundle of laughs. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]