Imagine waking up in a place you didn t recognize, not remembering anything from the day before and then finding a dead body. Or consider a male Miss Marple enmeshed in a lighthearted Memento with a dash of Fifty First Dates.

In this, the third of the Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit Mystery Series, cantankerous octogenarian Paul Jacobson must solve a series of murders while struggling with the problems of his short-term memory loss. Paul learns about the homeless community, disreputable art dealers and the beach scene in Venice Beach, California, and must dance a geezer two-step to stay out of the clutches of the police and the bad guys.

Review

Paul Jacobson wakes up in a strange bed next to an attractive woman he can’t remember, but Paul is no young playboy waking up after a wild night on the town. He is an 85-year-old widower with a short-term memory disorder. Paul has vivid memories of things in his past up to six years ago, before his memory problems began. Now, each time he wakes up, he has forgotten events and people from the day before. Paul learns it’s his wedding day and he will be marrying Marion, the woman he woke up with. Then, before the day is over, he discovers two dead bodies. Although Paul doesn’t recognize them, unfortunately others are aware that Paul knew the men and had a reason to want them dead. Detective Quintana, who is in charge of the investigation, doesn’t understand Paul’s disorder and sees him as the most likely suspect in the suspicious deaths he is investigating. Paul figures out if he wants to be free to go on his honeymoon cruise in a couple of weeks, he better do some investigating of his own.

This book has an unusual, but interesting premise. Paul can’t remember anything from the day before when he wakes up. There is one exception that Paul is happy to find out about early in the book, but I won’t spoil the surprise. Throughout this book, I have to admire Paul’s attitude. This condition might be overwhelming for some people, but Paul considers himself lucky to be alive with people he loves, even if he does forget everything when he goes to sleep. Physically, Paul is healthy and is spry for an octogenarian. He takes walks every day and even goes for an occasional bike ride. He is able to enjoy life and solve murders that even the detective in charge of the case can’t. However, Paul isn’t an idealized, perfect person. He has a quick temper and a sharp tongue that sometimes gets him in trouble with his loved ones, and definitely contributes to being considered a suspect since he has made enemies with his blunt comments. However, those same types of comments help him to get useful information from witnesses that he wouldn’t have gotten with a more subtle approach.

One downside of the book is that sometimes the events are a bit far-fetched. Paul ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time a few too many times to be believable. Also, while Marion is kind, patient, and supportive of Paul, I don’t feel I got to know her even though she plays a huge role in the story. (She is the one to come up with the long overdue idea for Paul to start a journal to record what happens each day so he can read it the next morning to catch up on what has been going on in his life.) This book is not the first in this series, so I would have welcomed some background information on how Paul met Marion and how they fell in love, even with Paul’s unique condition.

My favorite parts of the book are seeing Paul interact with his grandchildren. He has a great relationship with his 12-year-old granddaughter Jennifer, and she is his “go-to” person for Internet research. This reminds me of Margaret Grace’s Miniature mysteries with the main character and her granddaughter solving crimes, and I enjoyed seeing Paul and Jennifer working together in this book. I also like the growing relationship Paul has with his new wife’s grandson and how that character grows, thanks to the time Paul spends with him.

The mystery itself is centered on the art world and a community of homeless people who play an important part in the book. I find it interesting that some of the homeless people are poverty-stricken or mentally ill, others are living on the beach by choice. This book ends on a positive note and demonstrates that while Paul’s memory is impaired, he can still positively contribute to the lives of his friends and acquaintances. Even though some parts of the book get a bit silly, it is an entertaining book you won’t want to “forget” to check out.

Reviewed by Christine

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