I wasn’t sure I wanted to finish “The Rabbit Factory
” after the first 8 pages. The first character we meet — a man dressed as a cartoon rabbit at an amusement park — is beyond unsavory. He’s quickly dispatched, though, and his departure kicks off Marshall Karp’s impressive first novel.

Karp’s protagonists, Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, are the LAPD detectives assigned to the rabbit murder. They’re well drawn and likable — something you don’t always see in mystery novels. The first killing rapidly leads to a second, and the body count climbs as the book proceeds. It’s not a happy story, but it’s nicely paced and pretty suspenseful.

This is a long book (632 pages), and I think some of it could have been trimmed. One side plot in particular — in which we meet Lomax’s brother — struck me as unnecessary. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable read. I’m looking forward to reading Karp’s next book, “Bloodthirsty.” (Charming title, isn’t it?)