The Dutch: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Milan Jacovich Mysteries) | Les Roberts

The Dutch: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Milan Jacovich Mysteries) | Les Roberts | Private Investigator Hired To Delve Into The Circumstances Of An Apparent Suicide

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The Dutch: A Milan...

	The Dutch: A Milan Jacovich Mystery (Milan Jacovich Mysteries) Les Roberts Gray & Company Publishers, 2006 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Milan Jacovich, Cleveland's most popular private investigator, specializes in industrial security, but when another type of case comes up that is too good to resist he will agree to work on it. That is exactly what happens when Professor Carnine walks into his office in this 12th addition to the series.

Milan recognizes Dr. Carnine's name, but can't remember from where until Dr. Carnine explains. His daughter's body was found under a local bridge. The police agreed that 30-year-old Ellen Carnine committed suicide, or in street parlance "did the dutch." However, Dr. Carnine cannot accept that answer and wants Milan to find out what could have driven his daughter, somewhat of a recluse, to take her own life? He is filled with guilt that maybe there was something about his daughter he should have known, that maybe there was a way he could have helped her. Reluctantly, Milan agrees to take the case knowing that the outcome will not be happy for anyone.

Milan finds that Ellen spent most of her time on the computer either working or on the Internet and that she was appreciated by her bosses, a pair of young Cleveland entrepreneurs who made movies. But interviews with her few friends lead him to see her as an independent person who got satisfaction from her work and had accepted the fact that she was seriously overweight and physically unattractive.

Digging further, Milan comes upon upsetting small clues that shout "murder" to him, and suspicions about what her employers were actually up to grow. His investigation begins to take a different, and eventually dangerous, direction until he uncovers the horrific truth behind Ellen's death.

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The Dutch

Les Roberts has become one of my favorite mystery writers. His character is Cleveland private investigator, Milan Jacovich. Milan is asked by William Carnine to find out why his daughter, Ellen, committed suicide ("did the Dutch") by jumping off a bridge. Most thought that Ellen did the Dutch because she was overweight and unattractive. She was 3rd in command at Wheetek Inc., a computer graphics designing firm. Milan discovers that she is very bright and a decent, caring person. Ellen also spent quite a bit of time in chat rooms on the Internet. As Milan talks with her friends and investigates her on-line friends, it becomes likely that Ellen was murdered. Milan sets out to find the killer knowing that his own life is in danger. "The Dutch" has a very strong plot and the suspense builds until the very end. I also like the main character, Milan Jacovich. This novel is highly recommended.

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Private Investigator Hired To Delve Into The Circumstances Of An Apparent Suicide

A young female internet executive seems to have committed suicide by jumping off a bridge at 4:00am. Her father hires private eye Milan Jacovich to clarify what really happened. The police have already classified the case as a suicide. Jacovich interviews her friends and work associates. Something doesn't ring true to him about the case. As he delves deeper he discovers an important clue. He feels in his gut that this was no suicide. He uncovers an internet snuff site that showed porno and finished with the actual murder of the prostitute actress. This was a quick moving page turner. I must say that my first thought before reading the book was who cares about a drama in Cleveland. Well, I was wrong. I thought it was a great read and look forward to reading more of the author.

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The Dutch

Very dramatic story. Unexpected events. Very detailed. Another well written novel by Les Roberts. Peggy Ann

Milan Jacovich--what a guy!

I am a real live 100% Slovak. I have lived in Cleveland my entire life. I can relate to lot of Milan's memories, though I think he eats a lot better than I do and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I've enjoyed this series since the first book, "Pepper Pike". I wish Mr. Roberts had stayed with naming the books after the Cleveland 'burbs. (For you non-Clevelanders, Pepper Pike is one of Cleveland's wealthier suburbs). We have lots of neat city names in this area and that would have been fun. Anyway, I stopped reading the series for awhile after Mr. Roberts killed off Marko. I still don't see the point of that. Milan is a good guy who does a good job. Except for some street names (Avenue vs. Road, etc.), Roberts gets the Cleveland stuff right. This was a good story. It's well worth your time and money, especially if you know Cleveland. I read a lot of mysterys and I usually don't figure 'em out, but I did on this one. Must be my Slovak blood, right?

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Another Winner in a Classy and Compelling Series

Over the years, fictional private eyes have come in all shapes and sizes and have trod the mean streets of numerous famous and even exotic locales. Against that backdrop the idea of a novel, let alone a series of novels, set in Cleveland and featuring a tough Slovenian detective would hardly seem to be a recipe for success. Nevertheless, success is precisely what author Les Roberts has accomplished with his Milan Jacovich mysteries.

When the body of Ellen Carnine, a brilliant young executive with a local web design firm, is found dead at the bottom of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge everyone concerned (including the police) is satisfied that the woman took her own life. While outwardly well adjusted, the young businesswoman could only be described as "aesthetically-challenged." Her physical appearance, combined with a virtual lack of anything even remotely resembling a love life, seems to provide a ready-made motive for suicide. The girl's father, Professor William Carnine, doesn't doubt the official verdict. He is nevertheless dissatisfied with the various motives proffered to explain his daughter's action. To get to the truth and to establish some sense of closure, the bereaved man hires Milan Jacovich to investigate the cause of Ellen's "doing the Dutch" - street slang for committing suicide.

Jacovich, an ex-cop and a Vietnam vet, is a tough as they come. What sets Jacovich apart from so many other series characters is the fact that he grows and changes in significant ways with each succeeding adventure. Through it all, however, it is his essential humanity - a product of his experiences in the military, as a police officer and of his ethnic roots and family ties - that makes him such an interesting and engaging creation.

With the help of Ellen's laptop computer, Jacovich slowly (too slowly in spots) but surely uncovers the truth regarding the woman's demise. In the process the detective, an Internet neophyte, is introduced to chat rooms, password detection software and the absolute darkest recesses of the web pornography industry. The intriguing ethical, legal and philosophical issues raised by Roberts concerning personal privacy, the First Amendment and the sources of one's own self-image are in themselves enough to keep one turning the page. The heinous crime at the heart of this novel should also prove sufficiently shocking to fans of all but the most hardboiled fare.

Notwithstanding some minor problems in plot and pacing, THE DUTCH is an enjoyable and thoughtful detective novel. As usual, the author's use of his Cleveland area locale is lovingly and painstakingly detailed. Admittedly, Cleveland is not the San Francisco of Sam Spade, the Manhattan of Matt Scudder, nor the Los Angeles of Phil Marlowe or Lew Archer. Nevertheless, from the four landmark pylons known as the "Titans of Transportation" on the Hope Memorial Bridge at the opening of the story to the Holden Arboretum that figures so prominently in the denouement, Roberts brings this once universally maligned city to life. Here, as in the other books in this series, what at first glance appears to be an improbable combination of setting and character works ... and works well!( The full text of this review was first published in MYSTERY NEWS, August/September 2001).

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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