Something Fishy in Manhattan is a mystery crime novel and the first book in the Lieutenant James Mysteries by JB Clemmens.
In the last few years, we have only seen a handful of mystery crime writers who have been consistent in their themes and provided us with unforgettable characters. One of them is Jeanie Bryson Clemmens or most famously known as JB Clemmens. She is a former teacher turned crime novelist who gave us the thrillers Jigsaw, Death in Sequence, Mystery at Pima Point, A Substitute for Murder, and The Numbered Cups Mystery. The last three are part of her book series, The Lieutenant James Mysteries. The work features the main character Lt. Eli James, a fifty-five-year-old NYPD Lieutenant with a knack for solving mystery murders. It is a character similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. For fans of JB Clemmens, Lt. James is as big as the author herself. Today, we will be featuring Lt. Eli James’s first adventure in the intriguing and dark novel Something Fishy in Manhattan.
Something Fishy in Manhattan by JB Clemmens
Something Fishy in Manhattan was published in August 2013. It is the first book in The Lieutenant James Mysteries. In this book, we are introduced to Lt. Eli James of the New York Police Department. James is a veteran in the service and has a unique set of skills to solve mystery cases.
Something Fishy in Manhattan follows the mysterious murder of an evil man. He was believed to be poisoned using blowfish. One of the persons of interest is a Japanese man named Hoshi Sato. He is known as an honorable man who dreams of one day owning a restaurant in Manhattan so he could be close to his childhood sweetheart, Emi Suniko. Emi and Hoshi are deeply in love. Emi teaches art, and Hoshi, Eli, and twelve others take a class. When one of the men in class dies after eating Hoshi’s blowfish, the poor Japanese fellow instantly becomes one of the suspects. However, Lt. Eli James also learns that the victim is an evil con man and that most of the men in their class had good reasons to kill the victim. Lt. James sets out to further investigate the crime scene and the men in the class, believing that the killer may be getting away with more than murder.
Something Fishy in Manhattan is a well-researched book. For her Lieutenant James Mysteries debut, JB Clemmens actually did a lot of research on Japanese customs, fugu licensing, art, and investment fraud during the writing as part of the book’s writing process. JB Clemmens also stated that she became interested in the Japanese art of preparing and cooking the poisonous fish partly because of her son, who lives in Tokyo, Japan, and her nephew, a Chef in New York. Preparing the pufferfish can be dangerous and fatal. It takes seven years to become a certified fugu chef, and only a handful of them are in the United States.
Overall, Something Fishy in Manhattan is a thrilling and compelling mystery crime novel JB Clemmens was able to establish the main character, Lt. Eli James, and the characters, Hoshi and Emi. The plot is unique but not complex. Fans of JB Clemmens and those who love fast-paced yet easy-to-navigate crime narratives will undoubtedly love the book.
Jeanie Bryson or JB Clemmens is a former high school Math teacher. She is the author of several mystery crime novels, influenced mainly by literary greats, including Agatha Christie, Martha Grimes, Marsh, Tom Wolfe, and Lee Child, to name a few. Since 2013, JB Clemmens has published over half a dozen novels, including a detective series. JB Clemmens is currently living in Pennsylvania with her husband and a Great Dane.