Polish Dragon P.I. (Midnight Cranes) by Steve Zimcosky

Review 5 star

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​Polish Dragon P.I. (Midnight Cranes) is a cozy mystery book by Steve Zimcosky. Private investigator Tom Sipowicz has just returned from his last excursion, and is hoping for a short break. But the president of a manufacturing company wants a private investigation into the deaths of two workers at his plant. Sipowicz gets hired at the plant, MaGed Material Handling, as a low-level laborer so he can probe into the situation. Does anyone know anything about these deaths? What about the mysterious defective parts that keep coming from the parent company in Germany every few months? It isn’t long before he finds out there’s a lot of truth to be discovered at this seemingly ordinary place full of cranes, welders, and secrets.

A brisk and easy-to-read cozy mystery, Polish Dragon P.I. (Midnight Cranes) is a delight. It has a lot of fascinating details of work in a factory, plus a nice mix of characters as Tom goes about his rounds pretending to be employed at MaGed while really finding some adventure in an engaging action story. Steve Zimcosky has written a great book for readers who enjoy reading plausible and realistic stories. Events are really well foreshadowed—I didn’t guess who the main villains in the plant were when they were introduced, yet afterwards it all made sense with the way they were shown at first—and the gradually building threads of Tom’s dealings, on a tight time deadline, with various investigative agents, a quirky night-owl chemist, a funny female sidekick, and a shady drug dealer known as the Ghost kept me on my toes right until the end. Very entertaining story, with good execution of the mystery elements, unique plotting that hinges on a rare language, and a charming hero.