Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd. (UK 1994)

From the Publisher:
Wudu, Ltd. is a sort of private investigation agency that solves big problems for big money. Entrepreneur and fixer Enno Glimm's big problem is that he's desperate to locate two sexually deviant British hypnotists missing in California; his little problem is that his Rhine-flavoured vowels turn Wudu into Voodoo. Which perhaps isn't such a bad thing after all -- the giant conundrum that the case turns into could use a little black magic to get solved.

But the only kinds of magic available are the talents of Wudu's Artie Wu and his partner Quincy Durant. And the hypnotists are the only people who can prove that actress-director lone Gamble didn't murder her loathsome (and terribly rich) ex-fiancé. But finding the pair will entail getting together with some old and rather dubious cronies, and soon Wudu, Ltd. realizes it may need some protection... from one of its own...

Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd.. Warner Books, ISBN: 075150078X (March, 1994), 282 p., £4.99.

Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd. (USA 1993)

From the Publisher:
She was quite drunk, not quite beautiful, and all Hollywood -- an actress-director named Ione Gamble driving crazily toward her rich boyfriend's mansion in Malibu. It was just too bad for her that she stumbled upon a loaded Beretta before she came across the dead billionaire--and an indictment for murder.

Gamble's rep, a German heavyweight who pronounces Wudu "Voodoo," wants the quasi-PI. Agency of Arthur Case Wu and Quincy Durant to track down the two kinky British hypnotists who hold the key to the actress' movements on the fatal night. For big bucks, Wudu, Ltd. will oblige, bringing aboard old cronies Otherguy Overby, terrorist expert Booth Stallings, and Georgia Blue, the world's most dangerous bodyguard. Then blackmail rears its ugly head, the stakes double, and Wu and Durant find themselves in dire need of protection... perhaps from one of their own.

Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd.. Mysterious Press / Warner Books, ISBN: 0446400300 (September, 1993), 310 p., $5.99.

Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd. (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
Ross Thomas is more than a great storyteller, he's an experience. Hailed by the New York Times Book Review as "the master of the crime thriller." Mr. Thomas has been praised by critics, singled out by his fellow crime writers, and avidly read by millions of fans worldwide. Now the writer who has created some of the world's most remarkable characters brings back the infamous team of Artie Wu and Quincy Durant in a fast-paced novel of murder, duplicity, and double-dealings.

Wudu, Ltd. is not exactly a private investigation agency, and the overhead's too high for con men. It's "a closely held limited liability company that does for others what they cannot do for themselves," says Arthur Case Wu -- ex-carny, pretender to the Chinese Emperor's throne, and chief executive officer of Wudu, Ltd. In other words, they solve big problems for big bucks.

When German entrepreneur Enno Glimm, who insists upon pronouncing the company name as "Voodoo," arrives in London to strike a deal with Quincy Durant, the arrangement comes just in time to move Wudu's accounts into the black.

Glimm's problem: two kinky British hypnotists have vanished, leaving his client, actress-director lone Gamble, in the lurch. Only the hypnotists can prove that the star did not gun down her loathsome billionaire ex-fiancé in his $13-million Malibu "beach shack."

For Durant and Wu, it means enlisting the help of some old cronies, like the dubious Otherguy Overby, terrorism expert Dr. Booth Stallings, and the overtly sensual Georgia Blue. Together, they must weave a bit of their black magic in the world of excess bounded by Hollywood.

Ross Thomas: Voodoo, Ltd.. Mysterious Press / Warner Books, ISBN: 0892964510 (October, 1992), 282 p., $19.95.