THE THIRD RULE of TEN (Tenzing Norbu #3) by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay

This series returns to its winning ways.

Published in 2014 by Hay House Visions

Former Buddhist monk and ex-LAPD officer Tenzing "Ten" Norbu returns in The Third Rule of Ten.

Ten continues his search for the perfect girl but his professional life has taken off in a big way thanks to the celebrity connections he made in The Second Rule of Ten. Mac Gannon, an aging action hero star who is an ultra-Catholic with a propensity to cheat on his wife and drink too much and the spout racist venom (clearly inspired by Mel Gibson) hires Ten to find a missing illegal alien housekeeper. That's tricky enough with the hazy documentation comes with being an illegal alien, but Ten has to keep it as quiet as possible since Mac is really hiring Ten so that Bets McMurtry, California's answer to Sarah Palin, does not get tied to her (even though she desperately wants her friend found, she is always aware of the political implications).

Photo by Niels Noordhoek

As Ten starts to search he comes across other seemingly unrelated cases as he digs and discovers it's not just people that are coming across the border and discovers that plenty of people are willing to kill to keep that a secret. 

Despite the overt attacks on anyone on the political right throughout the book (and some might say the Catholic faith as well), I find myself reading the book because I just like the character Ten.  The mystery was good, there is plenty of action and humor as well.  I have read 3 of the 4 books in the series and I am pleased to say that this series is back on its winning ways with The Third Rule of Ten.

Note: I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all of my reviews of book in this series by clicking here.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Third Rule of Ten.

Reviewed on June 9, 2014.

The Second Rule of Ten (Tenzing Norbu #2) by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay

Too Much Plot for Just One Book

Published in 2013 by Hay House Visions

So, The Second Rule of Ten, the second book in the Tenzing Norbu series, is jam-packed - so jam-packed that it really should have been two books.

Tenzing "Ten" Norbu is a welcome addition to the L.A. mystery genre. He is an ex-Tibetan monk and an ex-LAPD officer turned private investigator who is struggling to figure out his place in the world, looking for the right woman and dealing with a poor relationship with his father.

In this mystery, Ten is trying to solve the murder of an ex-client, a Hollywood producer with a reputation for making enemies. Along the way, he discovers a much larger plot involving a Latin gang, illegal drugs and a survivor of the Holocaust.

I really like the character Ten - he is an active practitioner of meditation but in no way does he have all of his problems solved by meditation - he still gets irritated in traffic jams, can't figure out how to deal with the new lady in his life and he carries a gun (once he gets his permit, that is) and is a genuinely nice guy.

But, no matter how much I like Ten, this book slowly morphs into an overly-complicated mess with an extraneous investigation into the missing sister of a Holocaust survivor and a trip to India for Ten to deal with family issues back at his father's monastery (this was interesting but very forced attached to the end of the book, including a side trip into Chinese-occupied Tibet. This would have been a fantastic stand-alone plot in another book - a book that really looked at what's going on in Tibet under Chinese rule).

One other issue, more of a pet peeve than anything else: shotguns and rifles are not the same thing. In a struggle on page 306 I was confused about how many weapons were in the room when the authors used the terms interchangeably.

See my review for The First Rule of Ten by clicking here.

I was offered this book from the publisher through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Second Rule of Ten.

Reviewed on March 30, 2013.

The First Rule of Ten: A Tenzing Norbu Mystery (Dharma Detective #1) by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay

A twist on the L.A. detective novel

Published in 2012 by  Hay House Visions.

For years, Los Angeles has been the home of the detective story. For Raymond Chandler, Dragnet, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly and even videogames like L.A. Noire, Los Angeles has been the seedy, diverse world that has all of the secrets that our intrepid detective heroes must dig up and expose.

The First Rule of Ten brings us a different take on the L.A. Detective STory. Tenzing Norbu (he goes by Ten) is a different kind of detective in that he grew up in a monastery and used to be a Buddhist monk but moved to America at the age of 18. His literary hero is Sherlock Holmes and he has just retired from LAPD as a detective because the job was simply getting too bureaucratic - too much paperwork, not enough mystery-solving.

Ten may not be a monk any longer but he is still a practicing Buddhist. That's a different twist, and in some ways a refreshing twist on the stereotype of the alcohol-abusing chain smoking detective. Not that Ten is a prude, but he is mindful of what he does to his body,

But, this fresh character would be pointless if the story were poor. I am glad to say that this mystery is interesting and the story comes to a satisfying conclusion. This was an enjoyable read and I will keep my eyes open for more stories of Tenzing Norbu.

I was offered this book from the publisher through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

Edit: March 30, 2013: See my review of The Second Rule of Ten by clicking here.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: 
The First Rule of Ten: A Tenzing Norbu Mystery (Tenzing Norbu Mysteries)

Reviewed on February 11, 2012.