title: Broken Down (Arvo Thorson Mystery)
author:  Susan Koefod 
description: In Koefod's lackluster second mystery featuring Arvo Thorson (after her 2011's Washed Up), the Mendota County, Minn., police detective spends as much time trying to figure out the women in his life as he does investigating swing bridge operator Karl Lutz's death. Fifteen-year-old daredevil Nick McQuillen happens to be on Lutz's bridge when it suddenly rises into the air. After seeing a motorcyclist make a daring leap across the spans, he goes below to find the operator cut in two by the bridge cables. While Nick's presence on the bridge makes him a suspect, his age means Thorson must deal with prickly social worker Christine Ivory, with whom the investigator has a problematic relationship. Moreover, Thorson can't quite free himself from the clutches of his adulterous ex-wife, Helen. Questioning Nick, searching for the elusive motorcyclist, and investigating the gruesome crime scene leads Thorson into a quagmire almost as sticky as his personal entanglements, but neither problem excites much interest in a novel equally weak on romance and mystery. (Sept.)
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  Kilo
  
  
    
    
  CHAPTER I. Eliph' Hewlitt  
    
  CHAPTER II. Susan  
    
  CHAPTER III. "How to Win the Affections"  
    
  CHAPTER IV. Kilo  
    
  CHAPTER V. Sammy Mills  
    
  CHAPTER VI. The Castaway  
    
  CHAPTER VII. The Colonel  
    
  CHAPTER VIII. The Medium-Sized Box  
    
  [CHAPTER IX. The Witness  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos152781)[CHAPTER X. The Boss Grafter  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos165727)[CHAPTER XI. The False Gods of Doc Weaver  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos192917)[CHAPTER XII. Getting Acquainted  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos235314)[CHAPTER XIII. "Second: A Small Present"  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos252574)[CHAPTER XIV. Something Turns Up  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos266706)[CHAPTER XV. Difficulties  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos285485)[CHAPTER XVI. Two Lovers, and a Third  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos301109)[CHAPTER XVII. According to Jarby's  
    
  ](Kilo_split_001.html#filepos317571)[CHAPTER XVIII. Another Tria