BOOK NEWS

Rockville, MD – “The Examined Life,” a new private eye novel by author Virgil Jose (James A. Rock Publishers, MD, ISBN  978 1 59663 569 2) introduces the reader to Gil Rodrigues, a private eye who investigates insurance fraud in Southern California.  An affable – if world weary – widower, he lives with his cat and enjoys a relatively quiet life. 

All that quickly changes when a good friend, David Chang, is murdered in a way that suggests a professional hit and Gil is asked by David’s family to investigate the murder.

Gil is sometimes helped and sometimes hindered by police detectives who don’t much care for a private eye meddling in what they believe to be their exclusive investigation.  A Lieutenant Hara, a friend of Gil’s, is one such sometime ally, sometime adversary.   As Gil uncovers one clue after another, leading him to believe that he is hot on the trail of David’s killer, he must also remain on Hara’s good side.

When he learns that his own life is in danger and he has to defend himself against a brutal physical assault, Gil is tempted to quit the case.  When, however, he and his mistress Diana, who happens to be the victim’s sister, find themselves suspects in the murder, Gil

Two backstories – men at war and industrial espionage – add extra dimensions to this small gem.