Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

I always was a sucker for a good cause. – Eddie Perlmutter

Eddie Perlmutter is not your typical Boca Raton retiree. While most of Boca’s citizens find themselves preoccupied with things like golf, bridge tournaments, doctors appointments, and early-bird specials, former Boston detective turned private investigator Eddie tends to find himself caught up in slightly more serious matters.

During his brief time in Boca, Eddie has taken on the Russian mafia and run a group of neo-Nazis out of town on a rail (the cases that earned him the nickname “The Boca Knight”), solved the mystery of a haunted elevator, shut down a cyber-criminal (who’s since become Eddie’s partner), busted up a kidnapping/identity theft ring, and parlayed the financial results of one investigation into a health care clinic for a low income community (Boca Mournings).

Not bad for a sexagenarian with arthritic knuckles, two bum knees, and a pesky prostate.

Boca Daze finds Eddie dealing with a blast from his Boston past when old school criminal Doc Hurwitz, also now retired to Boca, reaches out to Eddie for help. Doc’s granddaughter, Shoshanna, recently overdosed on OxyContin pills she obtained from one of Florida’s infamous “pill mills,” places that churn out thousands of prescriptions for painkillers under questionable – but legal – circumstances. Doc wants Eddie to get the evidence needed to prove the clinic where Shoshanna got her pills is dirty and shut the place down. (more…)

“The old you was a young slugger. Now you’re a veteran counterpuncher. You win by decisions instead of knockouts.” – Claudette Permice

When we last saw Eddie Perlmutter he had been dubbed the “Boca Knight” by the Boca Raton press for his successful handling of some messy matters involving both the Russian mafia and a group of neo-nazis. Former decorated Boston police officer or not, it was a pretty nifty showing for a 60 year old retiree with arthritic knuckles and two bum knees.

Boca Mournings, the second book in the Eddie Perlmutter series following Boca Knights, finds Eddie having capitalized on his minor celebrity by getting licensed and officially going into business as a private investigator. And while his phone has been ringing off the hook, the majority of the callers want Eddie to investigate spouses suspected of having affairs. Not exactly what the 34 year Boston PD vet had in mind.

Things soon heat up, however, and before Eddie knows it he’s juggling cases ranging from the merely curious (Who’s sabotaging the elevator at the Delray Vista condos?), to a personal mission (Why can’t his friend Sylvia remember anything before her twentieth birthday?), to the life-altering (What happened to the gay couple who disappeared from their tight-knit community?). Along the way he manages to shut down a cyber-criminal – and pick him up as an unofficial sidekick – and parlay the results of one investigation into a project to tackle the lack of adequate health care for a nearby low income community. Oh yeah, his prostate is also acting up. (more…)

After thirty-plus years as a policeman I thought I knew a little about people, and I did. But I knew nothing about retired people, and now I was surrounded by them. – Eddie Perlmutter

After a long and lauded career in the Boston PD – 34 years, two medals of honor, two medals for valor, three medals for merit, and a Commendation from the Mayor to boot – Eddie Perlmutter was finally forced into retirement for medical reasons.

Though he’d love to stay in the old neighborhood, the traumatic arthritis in his knuckles and bum knees just isn’t tolerating the cold Boston winters very well. So what’s a New England Jewish retiree to do? Move to Boca Raton of course!

A friend lines Eddie up with a cushy security job at a posh country club, but as Eddie soon learns things are anything but laid back in sunny south Florida. Before he knows it Eddie is roped in to trying to solve the year-old murder of one of the gated community’s residents.

Along the way he stumbles upon a counterfeiting ring, which is funding a meth lab, which happens to be run by the Russian mafia. Oh, and there’s the small matter of the white supremacists that have moved in and are terrorizing the neighborhood. Hardly a relaxing, carefree retirement.

Forman’s depictions of the petty posturing and backstabbing involved in country club politics are literally laugh out loud funny. When Eddie’s not dealing with “Boca Bullies” (“Men who simply hadn’t mellowed with age. They maintained an aggressive attitude and turned every situation into a confrontation.”), he’s juggling “Boca Babes” (“An unmistakable combination of a bad attitude, chic clothing, beauty-parlor magic, and surgical surprises.”). And Eddie tackles it all with a matter-of-fact demeanor and wicked sense of humor that turns the little corner of Boca Raton he’s settled in on its ear. (more…)