"No Sleep Till Wonderland" by Paul Tremblay

290 pages; Published by William Morrow, ©2010

Mark Genevich, Massachusetts' favorite wise-cracking, narcoleptic private eye is back, and this time he has some friends. Well, he has group therapy. It wasn't his idea. It came from an ultimatum his mother gave him.

Being a private eye means you can get work from the strangest of places. For Mark, his latest job comes from someone he meets in group therapy named Gus. Genevich drinks with a man named Gus and the result is a job. Easy or not, Genevich can't afford to turn down work. Life hasn't been easy for him. Business leads have been drying up, and he is facing a lawsuit. Not only that, but a Boston Police detective wants to talk to him about a nearby fire. His questions are almost accusatory. If you read "The Little Sleep", you know how congenial and professional Genevich is with Detective Owolewa. It's not just Owolewa. There's also a bouncer Genevich rubs the wrong way and people who want to give the narcoleptic an up-close-and-personal view of the Zakim Bridge.

"Wonderland" follows Genevich in and out of South Boston housing projects and local watering holes. His job from Gus involves watching a waitress who's in trouble. Genevich has his own problems, but the job pays, and he can't afford to say no. Just as it looks like the case is about to be solved, the P.I. is on the wrong side of a gun. Unlike Mark, this one isn't a lighter.

It's all in a day's work for Genevich. Private eyes are used to being in over their heads. This time, he is in over his head facing arson charges and a mysterious bag of amphetamines. If he can't explain the fire or how the pill got in his possession, Genevich's investigating days are over.

Tremblay's second Mark Genevich novel is just as good as the first. It contains the same kind of fast-paced reading that comes with a flawed main character who needs to stay close enough to a scene to do his job, but not too close and wind up in handcuffs. You'll enjoy the action that comes with dodging good guys and bad guys alike, and you'll laugh at Genevich's sometimes slanted takes on what happens as he tries to solve another case.