Gay Hendricks - The Second Rule of Ten

book review written and read live on bookshow by Ro Bennett 7th August 2014:

This is the second book in the series and I previously reviewed the first book.

This is what is referred to as the Product Description

Ex–Buddhist monk and ex–LAPD officer turned private eye Tenzing Norbu is back with another new case, a new love, and a whole new set of problems in this fresh installment in the Tenzing Norbu Mystery series.

In The Second Rule of Ten, Norbu investigates the unexplained death of his former client, Hollywood mogul Marv Rudolph and searches for the sister, lost during World War II, of wizened Los Angeles Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosen. With two cases and an unforeseen family crisis that sends him back to Tibet, Ten finds himself on the outs with his best buddy and former partner, Bill, who is heading the official police investigation into Marv’s death. Cases and crises start to collide. When Ten mistakenly ignores his second rule, he becomes entangled in an unfortunate association with a Los Angeles drug cartel. As he fights to save those he loves, and himself, from the deadly gang, he also comes face to face with his own personal demons. Working through his anger at Bill, doubts about his latest lady love, and a challenging relationship with his father, Ten learns to see the world in a new light – and realizes that in every situation the truth is sometimes buried beneath illusion.

This is from a review which explains the background: Tensing Norbu is a 30ish, half Tibetan who spent his formative years growing up in a Tibetan Buddhist Temple as an apprentice Monk. He came to America, became a detective for the LAPD, then left to start his own private-eye practice which, in this second book is still limping along. 

The main characters are the same, but we get to know more about them.  Mike, his on-call computer whiz; Bill, his former police partner and Tank, the cat who loves tuna water but won't eat tuna fish.  In this book Heather, the coroner's new resident assistant is introduced as Ten’s new love interest. 

As this second book in the series opens, Ten says "I am making a new rule for myself....I'm going to be on the lookout for unconscious beliefs, the kind I hold so closely, I mistake them for reality....As safe as they make me feel, ...they prevent me from understanding what is actually happening.

In all of the situations Ten faces in the book, he explores his unconscious beliefs about the situation and what the reality is. 

In the midst of all his investigations, Ten's intuition tells him that something is terribly wrong back home at the monastery in Dharamshala, India. This results in a 7,000 mile plane trip to visit his father, the abbot, and his childhood friends, Lama Yeshe and Lama Lobsang. 

I preferred this to the first book which I thought became a bit like a gung ho  action melodrama at the end. It’s an excellent read, a page turner, the pace flows incredibly well, and all the pieces fit together like a detailed puzzle, plus the feel good factor which means I highly recommend it.