In UNBALANCED, Jake Longly enters the seventh inning of his namesake series, following 2023’s CULTURED. Jake was a Major League Baseball pitcher, while his BFF, Tommy “Pancake” Jeffers, was drawn to football given his enormous size. In their youth, they caroused the many bars along the Redneck Riviera, which alludes to the strong Southern culture and host of taverns and restaurants near the Gulf coast area of Flora-Bama at the eastern Alabama border.

"D.P. Lyle...weaves intricate forensics details into this enticing thriller. He hits a home run in his seventh inning."

Pancake now works at the PI firm that Jake’s dad, Ray, founded. Jake owns Captain Rocky’s bar-restaurant and is content to enjoy a laid-back lifestyle sipping margaritas and tequila. He and gal pal Nicole unwittingly get pulled into an “easy” assignment: pick up accounting documents at a realty office. “Everything with Ray and Pancake is easy until it implodes.”

Jake and Nicole find realtor Carl Davis on the floor with a bullet hole in his head. Initially, they’re suspects when Detective Brooke Peters and other investigators survey the scene but soon dismiss their involvement. Fortunately, Carl’s daughter, Savannah, has access to her dad’s backup files and gives the documents to Jake. Pancake discovers the accounting ledger also indicates that Carl’s partner, Mitch Littlefield, had skimmed and stashed $300,000 in offshore accounts.

Mitch is the prime suspect, but the list grows as Ray and Pancake cooperate with Brooke. Savannah’s fiancé, Dustin Hobson, also works at Carl’s office and confirms that he and Mitch left the office at the same time, about 20 minutes before the murder. Mitch appears to have an alibi, given that Dustin is Carl’s future son-in-law. Jake gets further involved with the investigation, while Pancake gets involved with Brooke --- on a personal basis. Now the suspect list has grown to several, and Jake conjures ways to bypass police restrictions of gathering evidence.

Saucy humor tones down the criminal investigation with many “of Pancake’s feeding frenzies.” D.P. Lyle, the author of the award-winning FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES, weaves intricate forensics details into this enticing thriller. He hits a home run in his seventh inning.