Hard-Driving Hero’s More ‘Human’ Side

Barbara Seranella’s first novel, “No Human Involved,” set in 1970s Los Angeles, introduced readers to Munch (for Munchkin) Mancini, a diminutive ex-con, ex-prostitute and recovering drug and alcohol abuser who was working 9 to 5 as a car mechanic while struggling to straighten out her life. Over the course of three books, Mancini has made impressive progress, dropping bad companions and developing good ones (such as homicide cop Mace St. John), staying clean, adopting a little girl and, not incidentally, solving a few murders. In “Unfinished Business” (Scribner, $24, 288 pages), we discover that she has accomplished quite a lot by the mid-1980s, moving up from mechanic to shop manager with a limo service on the side and a two-bedroom house in West L.A.

The author uses this upward mobility to involve her in the rape-murder of socialite-philanthropist Diane Bergman and the brutal rape of actress Robin Davis. The crimes have similar sadistic touches, and both victims were clients of the Brentwood car clinic where Munch is employed. When she tries to help the nearly catatonic Davis seek therapy, the rapist turns his attention to her.

A scribbled threat is pinned to her daughter’s jacket, followed by phone messages that suggest the villain knows more about her than a stranger would. While the stalwart St. John handles the official end of the investigation, Munch, motivated by anger and fear, snoops around on her own. Her problem: Because of the personal nature of the rapist’s messages, nearly every male she knows, be he lover, friend, co-worker or customer, is a suspect.

On a whodunit level, the plot works smoothly enough, with a proper mix of clues and red herrings. But Seranella, whose former career as a car mechanic adds a welcome air of verisimilitude to the novels, is at her best when presenting the less melodramatic moments in her heroine’s life, her satisfaction over an air-conditioning job well done, her pride in her daughter’s progress, her continuing analysis of her complex feelings and motives.

In the previous books, Munch’s heroic effort to rise above her past was the thing that made her and the series so unique. It will be interesting to see what the author has in store for her now that she’s on the cusp of yuppiedom.

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Jimmy Breslin’s current slice of New York mob life, “I Don’t Want to Go to Jail” (Little, Brown, $24.95, 306 pages), carries the subtitle “A Good Novel.” That may be pushing it. “The Sopranos,” definitely A Good Television Series, has raised the crime family bar so high that this tale of a law-abiding young man saddled with the same infamous name as his uncle, Fausti (the Fist) Dellacava, the don of Greenwich Village, seems almost quaint.

Breslin lays down a long line of amusing anecdotes and conceits--the name of the don’s clubhouse hangout is “Concerned Lutherans”--but the overall result is reminiscent of a Rodney Dangerfield stand-up routine built around a retelling of “The Age of Innocence.” It’s got some laughs, but what’s the point? In the years that have passed since Breslin’s “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” hit the bestseller lists in 1969, organized crime seems to have lost much of its humorous edge. Except on HBO.

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Gayle Lynds’ new thriller, “Mesmerized” (Pocket Books, $24.95, 454 pages), comes hot on the heels of the bestseller “The Hades Factor,” which she co-wrote with the late Robert Ludlum. The Ludlum connection seemed an appropriate one. Lynds’ two previous solo efforts spun their imaginative tales of espionage-plus with the breathless speed and insider’s conviction of the departed master. Her new one offers the same sort of world-worrying suspense.

When hard-charging D.C. attorney Beth Convey suffers a heart attack, she winds up hosting a new ticker that seems to be providing her with the memories and the skills of its previous owner. Hey, it could happen. In any case, Lynds keeps things hopping so quickly that the reader scarcely has time to question any of the remarkable events that follow the heart (and mind?) transplant.

Into the mesmerizing mix are tossed assassination attempts; murders; explosions; a government mole; a reckless, handsome FBI agent; a retired KGB mastermind, a home-grown terrorist nut-cluster called Keepers of the Truth; and, ultimately, a severely threatened meeting of George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin. Maybe “Mesmerized” will be required reading for our president before his real-life get-together next month with the Russian president. You think?

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Dick Lochte, the author of “Lucky Dog and Other Tales of Murder” (Five Star) and the prize-winning novel “Sleeping Dog” (Poisoned Pen Press), reviews mysteries every other week. Next week: Rochelle O’Gorman on audio books.