The Big Show Stopper Blog Tour!!!

Welcome to the Bibliophile Support Group Ken Dalton! You are the author of The Big Show Stopper (which I will review below) - can you tell us a little about the book?

The book opens with the accidental death of Brady Blackstone, a famed and popular concert performer, but Bear spots indications of murder. Pinky defends the accused killer by traveling to a fascinating location while Bear and Flo are relegated to investigating in the stifling heat of another desert. The hilarious romp concludes when the dynamic trio uncovers the murderer of America's top recording star on a dark night in a sandy waste by the Colorado River.

How many novels are you planning on writing in the Pinky and the Bear series?

At least four and I hope for more. The third is nearly complete and I am begining to work through the plot points of the fourth.

What are some of your favorite crime-solving duos in movies and TV?

The BBC team of Morse and Sgt. Lewis—White Collar with Peter (FBI) and Neal (white collar criminal) with Mozzie thrown in for spice

Can you name some of your favorite books you'd recommend to your fans?

Any book by Carl Hiaasen and The Girl With . . . series by Stieg Larsson.

If The Big Show Stopper were turned into a movie, who would you cast as Bear, Pinky, and Flo?

Pinky—Jeremy Piven.

Bear—Nathan Fillion.

Flo—Jamie Pressly

Be brutally honest - are you more like Bear or more like Pinky?

Hey, that’s a tough question. Both characters are made up of composites of men I’ve known and they are infused with the traits of all men, so as I am a male, I guess that includes me. However, Pinky is the worst of the two with a single redeeming quality—he’s your best, and possibly only, bet if you have committed a murder.

On the other hand, Bear’s big and tough, but he can be a nice guy. It’s just that he spends most of his waking hours checking out females with overly developed bosoms.

Flo's personality is quite, um, vivid. Is she based off a real-life acquanitance?

None that I can think of. If I happened to bump into a real-life Flo I would spin around and run the other way.

I can't tell if I think Flo is awesome or annoying! As the author and creator of this character, which way do you lean?

Angie, congratulations on your spot-on observation. You’ve nailed Flo’s role with the trio perfectly. Her job is to do what ever is needed to keep the boat rocking, both figuratively and literally.

Do you do a lot of research into the actualities and minute details of P. I.'s and defense attorneys?

I did more of that type of research for the first book, The Bloody Birthright. Positive feed back, from a retired District Attorney, and many policemen, told me that I was on the right track. The research for The Big Show Stopper came from attending a concert (actual performer’s name withheld to get me future tickets) as a VIP, with backstage privileges. I also travel to each location, both desirable and not so desirable, where I send the dynamic trio. In The Bloody Birthright those locations included Rome, the golden hills of Tuscany, and Eureka, on the loneliest road in America, in the middle of the vast wasteland of eastern Nevada.

What's the hardest part of writing?

Carving out the time in my busy life. It’s easier to find the time in the winter when it’s cold and rainy.

What's the easiest part?

The actual writing. Occasionally, I’ll hit a plot point snag, but once I get past that bump in the road, it’s smooth sailing.

How much planning and thought goes into "whodunnit"?

It takes me at least a couple of months to set out the original outline, something to get me from point A to Z. Once that is complete, I’ll start to write, but remembering that the outline is a guide, not something set in stone. A good example of this is the awesome and annoying Flo. She was suppose to meet Bear in Los Angeles, stick with him for a few days and then Bear, by himself, would drive back to Carson City. But Flo refused to let me leave her in L. A. It was as if Flo yelled in my ear, “Forget the outline. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’m jumping in Bear’s truck and heading north with him.”

What can you tell us about the next novel? And about when will it be available?

The reader will get the back story as to why J. Pinkus Delmont, a top-notch attorney, ended up in the back-water burg of Carson City—travel through northern California’s wine country, and solve the mystery of The Amethyst Corpse. The target date for release is the fall of 2011.

Thank you for stopping by Ken Dalton!!! We bibliophile's appreciate it! ;)

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond to your questions and meet with your readers. If you, or your readers, come up with a new query, drop me an email at ken@kendalton.com, or visit my web site, www.kendalton.com, and I’ll get back to you with an answer.

Stay tuned below for a review of The Big Show Stopper by yours truly...

The Big Show Stopper is the second novel in Ken Dalton's adult mystery series, featuring the dynamic duo of Pinky and the Bear.

Bear doesn't really get what the big deal is about Brady Blackstone, the richest and most popular country rockstar, but Flo loves him. So, in order to make his lady happy he takes her to one of Brady's concerts for her birthday. But the usually smooth sailing of propelling Brady through the air over the fans on a ski-lift-like chair and onto the stage to begin his first song ends with a bloody, deadly mess - Bear and Flo end up witnessing Brady's accidental death instead of a musical masterpiece.

Our simple but charming P. I. Bear tries desperately to salvage the evening, but before he can get Flo out of the crazy place, they happen across a clue that suggests Brady's death might not have been so accidental. Almost immediately a suspect is taken into custody. Yet Brady's widow calls up the morally questionable but highly talented Pinky to defend him - because apparently, despite America's general public's love for the star, there's a whole lot of people who had a reason to want Brady dead and she has reason to believe they've arrested the wrong man...

I'll admit that for a while I was taken aback with The Big Show Stopper in that it is so testosterone filled it doesn't seem to leave room for a gal like me to really relate to the two wholly male characters. However, even as I was dealing with the utter maleness of Pinky and Bear, I could see that the characters were definitely well-written. Bear is a streetwise investigator that bar tends on the side for extra money to keep his girlfriend happy. He has a lack of class that is disarming but quite funny. Really, the character is a sweetie that says some things that aren't necessarily tasteful, but somehow never stops being likable.

Then we've got Pinky who isn't really all that likable but is colorfully portrayed. Ken Dalton definitely knows how to present characters that transcend the plot and create sparklingly hilarious and snappy dialogue. He is successful in writing a sleazy, yet intelligent defense attorney in Pinky.

And Flo... oh dear Flo. That woman is a dilemma. As y'all saw in my interview with author Ken Dalton - she is one of those women that you can't stand one second and then think she's pretty awesome the next.

There were points in the The Big Show Stopper when I wasn't so entrenched in the story. I was having a hard time staying interested, getting a bit impatient for the momentum to pick up... However, around the halfway point the clue finding and whodunit factor of the novel kicked in to compliment the uniquely drawn, vibrant, and lively characters to really increase the overall fun factor.

So despite finding earlier portions of the book to be slower than I'd like, and having to get over the initial hard swallow of a couple of (to differing degrees) womanizing men, I ended up being quite convinced that The Big Show Stopper is a humorous, entertaining, enjoyable, fast read - and thinking I wouldn't mind reading the first book in the series The Bloody Birthright, not to mention any future novels featuring these characters.

There is kind of a sense of a cinematic duo here - I feel like Pinky and the Bear should be in a movie or a classic TV detective show. And hearing Ken Dalton's dream casting in my interview above - all I can say is, that would be probably be really cool!

If I have piqued your interest (and I hope I have) you should check out the blog tour website here, the Amazon page for the book here, the Amazon excerpt here, and of course Ken Dalton's website (which he provided above in our interview).