April 2006

Welcome back to the Morgue! It's April, when young men's thoughts turn to... baseball, but around here, there's nothing like a good mystery to get that invigorating scent of spring into our lungs.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Get on with the features.

This month's interview is with author/journalist/reviewer B.J. (Betty) Webb, whose latest Lena Jones mystery Desert Run is just out in bookstores. Betty tells us about the genesis of her protagonist, the sale of one of the previous books to Lifetime Television as a TV movie, and her plans to start a new series that is (as she puts it, "GASP!") a cozy.

There are reviews of 24 books in this month's Morgue, and one of them is actually reviewed twice, just to give you more than one perspective.  Authors include Denise Dietz, Steve Brewer, Hal Glatzer, Denise Hamilton and Roberta Isleib, whose Final Fore is the book reviewed multiple times.

Also, we have Mr. Glatzer's fascinating look inside the creative process.  This month's "How I Write" devotes itself to his adaptation of a mystery short story into a radio play to be performed at this month's Malice Domestic conference in Arlington, VA.  The specifics and challenges he describes make this a really unique view of one writer's technique.

And Chapter 23 of our serial mystery, "Murder By Committee," is written by Ralph Pezzullo, author of Eve Missing and the current Jawbreaker, a non-fiction book on the pursuit of Osama bin Laden written by one of the pursuers, Gary Berntsen, the CIA's key field commander.

So let Spring into the house with a hint of murder, mayhem and... something else that begins with an "M."  The Morgue's open for business!

In this month's issue:

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Betty Webb
How I Dramatized "His Heart Could Break," by Hal Glatzer

Reviews:
Escape Clause, by James O. Born
Whipsaw, by Steve Brewer
Who Killed Swami Schwartz, by Nora Charles
Three Can Keep A Secret, by Judy Clemens
Air Dance Iguana, by Tom Corcoran
Chain a Lamb Chop to the Bed, by Denise Dietz
Face Down Beside St. Anne's Well: A Lady Appleton Mystery, by Kathy Lynn Emerson
For Love and Money, by Leslie Glass
A Clean Kill, by Leslie Glass
The Last Full Measure, by Hal Glatzer
Prisoner of Memory, by Denise Hamilton
Final Fore, by Roberta Isleib
Nothing To Fear But Ferrets, by Linda O. Johnston
Pretty Poison, by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Wedding's Widow, by Alex Matthews
New Year's Eve Murder, by Leslie Meier
The Fallen, by T. Jefferson Parker
The Heat of the Moon, by Sandra Parshall
Nightlife, by Thomas Perry
Mourners: A Nameless Detective Novel, by Bill Pronzini
Blood Hunt, by Ian Rankin
Knit One, Kill Two, by Maggie Sefton
Dead Giveaway, by Leann Sweeney
Shadows At The Fair, by Lea Wait

Ongoing Story:
"Murder By Committee," Chapter 23, by Ralph Pezzullo

Link to Archives

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Betty Webb

Betty Webb is an author, journalist and book reviewer whose Lena Jones series highlights social issues as well as compelling characters and complex mysteries. Desert Wives, the second book in the series, was sold to Lifetime Television for adaptation, and led to discussion about polygamy compounds and death threats at the time for Webb.  Her latest Lena Jones novel, Desert Run, has just been published.

How was Lena Jones born in your imagination?  What do you think led to her creation?

Weirdly enough, Lena Jones came to me in a dream... her horrible childhood in foster homes, her lost parents, the mystery behind her being shot at the age of 4, her amnesia, and her wonderful courage. I woke up in the morning and started to write. She's left me on my own since then, though. No more dreams about her. But I feel as if she's the daughter I never had.

With the sale of Desert Wives to Lifetime Television, you were able to give up the "day job" of reporting and concentrate on your writing, as well as some mystery book reviewing.  Do you miss the daily grind?

Yep, I gave up the day job... not that the sale made me rich. But I was ready to retire anyway, and that did give me the nice edge. I don't miss the daily grind (writing 3 stories daily for 15 years will eventually kill you), but I do miss all my just-as-crazy journalist friends. We still get together once a month, though, for dinner or lunch. Several of us have season tickets at the theater, where we heckle the actors (just kidding!).

You do keep your hand in as a reviewer, on a freelance basis.  Does your role as an author color your reviewing?  How do you choose the books you'll review in each column?

Frankly, life's too short to read bad books. I choose the books that I think I'll like... usually they are noirs, sometimes suspense, sometimes historical, sometimes cozy. I have a pretty well-rounded set of likes and dislikes. All I ask is that the writer has conquered the basic craft of writing, tell a good story, and give me characters I can care about. Oh... and I prefer they don't kill the cat.

Yes, being a reviewer has always colored my writing, because I started out knowing what does not work!

Your novels have certain story threads that continue from one book to the next, such as Lena's attempts to better remember her birth parents (she grew up in a series of foster homes) and the strange circumstances that led to her being placed into the care of the state.  Do you have a clear plan for revealing more of the character's backstory throughout your novels?  Do you intend to let the readers in on the whole story?

Lena's background—and the mystery surrounding her parents—all came to me in that dream. I know everything, and my readers eventually will, too. And, yes, I will keep dropping hints about her background in each book. There's a whopper in my new book, Desert Run. One of the people in my critique group (which has been meeting at my house for 15 years!) has already figured out Lena's past. So I am playing fair with my readers!

Do you see the series as something that is open-ended, or do you know exactly how many stories about Lena you have to tell?

I have 10 very tight plots for the Lena Jones books, and several dozen more that I've been fiddling with. Lena just can't stay out of trouble. There is even a chance that once she finds out what happened to her parents, the series will continue (because the solution to the parent mystery will add new problems to her life).

Do you intend to write novels outside the series?  Any hints?

Yep. I'm working on a new series right now—have already finished the first draft of the first book, and blocked out the next 10 books. The only hint I can give is that my new detective lives in an unusual place and has an unusual profession. And—GASP!—it's a cozy!

What new story threads appear in your latest, Desert Run?  

The new book is based on a true story, and it's a heckofathing. On Christmas Eve, 1944, 25 German POWs escaped from a Phoenix, Arizona prisoner-of-war camp. All being crew members of U-Boat submarines, they were hardened seamen, and had built collapsible boats to sail south to Mexico, using their smuggled maps as navigation guides. What they didn't know—not being native to the desert—that even in December, those "rivers" marked on their maps were bone dry. After getting their fill of sun and rattlesnakes, most surrendered. The others were captured by local Indians and ranchers.

I live only a few blocks away from that old POW camp.

In Desert Run, I took on the true story of what has been called "Arizona's Great Escape" and turned it into a many-layered mystery novel—and the critics are loving it. The prestigious magazine, Publishers Weekly said of Desert Run, "Webb combines evocative descriptions of place with fine historical research in a plot packed with twists." In reviewing Desert Run, Booklist said, "A fascinating adventure. As in the preceding episodes in the series, Webb effectively evokes the beauty of the Arizona desert."

Your journalistic background leads to some very detailed and accurate background for the mysteries you write.  In Desert Run, you're beginning with a true story of World War II.  At what point do you have to get the facts out of the way in order to tell the story you've decided to tell?

To tell the truth, that was very hard at first. But then I got the idea of letting one of the escaped Germans POWs keep a journal, and once I got into his head and his writing, everything changed. Guenter Hoenig became so real to me that he let me concentrate on the fiction and not get overwhelmed by the murders. I grew to love his loves, dream his dream. But there are still a lot of killings in this book. I love the smell of fresh blood before breakfast!

The Arizona desert obviously plays a very large role in your work.  Is it simply that you live there, and therefore can observe more about the area than anywhere else, or do you think there's a character to the desert that especially appeals to you?

I live in Scottsdale, only blocks from Lena Jones' office. I also live about half a mile from the big Pima Indian Reservation, and that old prison camp. Talk about ghosts on your doorstep! When I first moved here from New York City in 1982, I thought this place was hell on earth. I now think it's heaven, and I've become very, very protective of it. The desert looks so bleak and bare, and yet it's teeming with life and drama... the desert is so basic that it can pare your own life right down to the basics, too. That's what it did to me, and I'm a better person for it.

The stories you tell can be somewhat grim, but you always exhibit a sense of humor in your writing.  How important do you think that quality is in mystery, and in your work especially?

It's the journalist in me. You've never heard such laughter in your life as in a newsroom where the journalists are covering some bleak, miserable story about plane crashes and abandoned kids. They have to laugh to stay sane. The detectives did the same thing in the old noir novels, too, which is why I've always loved them. But there's also another reason I have this sick sense of humor... it's genetic. There are several cops and police chiefs in my family, and their stories—while horrific—are scream-laughing hilarious.

After your breakout novel, Desert Wives, dealt with polygamy, you received death threats from polygamists.  Now, you're speaking out against the new HBO series "Big Love," which seems to glamorize polygamy, or at least treat it somewhat lightly. First of all, how scary was the reaction to the book?  And do you think that people who make polygamy look like "another lifestyle choice" don't understand the institution, or simply don't care?

I think it's a combination of money and ignorance. The woman who wrote the book Big Love has obviously never been on a polygamy compound or interviewed some of the girls, boys and women who have escaped. But she made a lot of money off the book, so the truth is no skin off her nose. Same story with the producers. None of them know about the grinding poverty of the women (and the enormous wealth of the "prophets"), generations-long incest leading to terrible birth defects (over 60% of the babies are now being born with serious birth defects, including blindness and profound mental retardation). They certainly don't know about the blatant welfare fraud (all those kids are illegitimate, and are getting big welfare checks... with around 50-100 kids per "father", that's a lot of moolah, all taken from taxpayers' pockets to help support child rape and incest. The writer and the producers also certainly don't know that the girls and women have no inheritance rights, cannot own property, and are passed around from man to man in the compounds whenever the current "prophet" decides to. It's not a lifestyle "choice" for these girls; it's slavery. Those of us who have been fighting the human rights violations of polygamy wonder if the "Big Love" producers will next be running a new sit-com about slavery, and how funny and romantic it was. Just think of all the money to be made in perverting the truth for financial gain!

Each novel has a broader theme, a social issue you highlight.  What comes first, the Lena story or the larger picture on which to set the murder?

Not surprisingly, I'm a newspaper addict. I'll read a news story about some government agency or private situation that preys upon the helpless—usually women and children—and it gets my blood boiling. Then I ask myself, "How would Lena feel about this?" That question usually leads to a new book, as it's doing right now. You wouldn't believe what I just discovered about... But you'll have to wait until Desert Cut to find out.

 

How I Dramatized "His Heart Could Break"
by Hal Glatzer

Hal Glatzer's newest Katy Green mystery from Perseverance Press—The Last Full Measure, set in Hawaii on the eve of Pearl Harbor—will make its convention debut at Malice.

At the Malice Domestic Mystery Convention this month, we will salute ghost-of-honor Craig Rice with my original dramatization of her 1943 short story "His Heart Could Break."  Eight other authors and I will continue the Malice tradition known as the Theatre of the Air: a live script-in-hand performance of a mystery in old-time radio style, with music and sound effects.

John J. Malone, a glib, skirt-chasing, hard-drinking Chicago lawyer, was Rice's favorite character: the hero of eleven novels and 35 stories.  Some of them were turned into movies, but although she wrote during the golden age of radio drama, none was ever produced as a radio play.  "His Heart Could Break" first appeared in H. L. Mencken's American Mercury magazine, and is still in print in anthologies.  Rice biographer Jeffrey Marks suggested reading the story aloud at Malice.  But I had adapted and produced a vintage "Candy Matson" radio program for the Theatre of the Air in 2005, and I have written several original audio-plays, one of which won a prestigious award.  So I decided to dramatize the story.

It was written in the omniscient third-person voice, but it lent itself well to being scripted; the scenes were short and punchy, with plenty of dialogue, the characters were all "characters," and the plot was linear:

The warden calls it suicide, but Malone calls it murder when his death-row client is found hanged in his cell.  So he and his wisecracking secretary, Maggie, re-investigate all the suspects in the dead man's original murder trial: predatory dames, shady lawyers, crooked cops and gentleman crooks.  But all the while, a song—a prison ballad—keeps running through Malone's head: a song that he's sure, somehow, holds the solution to both killings.

Here's how I dramatized Rice's story.  First I transcribed it, retaining all the original dialog.  I assigned the narrative paragraphs to my radio-play's Announcer, although I "opened up" the longest section—the recap of the original murder—by turning it into a dialog between Malone and Maggie.  Since there can be no explanatory "John-saids" or "Mary-whispereds" in radio, I slipped characters' names into some lines, and added stage-directions, to make clear who was speaking, how, and to whom.

Radio scripts typically run one minute per page, and my first draft was 32 pages; but I was under a scheduling constraint to hold the running time down to half an hour.  So I went back with a figurative blue pencil, trimmed the longest speeches, particularly the Announcer's transitions between scenes, and combined some lines of dialog, yielding a final draft of 29 pages.  Another constraint—a small stage and short rehearsal period—limited the size of my cast.  Since four of the five male actors would have to read two or three parts, I re-assigned some of their lines to other characters, so no one would play a scene against himself.

I'm a musician and composer, too; and what made the story particularly vivid to me was the song that keeps haunting Malone as he tries to crack the case.  It's the sad lament of an ex-con for a cellmate wrongfully executed.  Rice had invented the song, of course; but she'd written only a handful of rhymed lyrics, and they did not scan in any obvious way, like "the blues."  I'll never know how she heard them in her head, but to me they suggested a mournful mountain ballad.  So I set them to the kind of bluegrass or country/western melody that, perhaps, Bill Monroe or Johnny Cash might have sung.

You'll be able to hear (and see) "His Heart Could Break" when we present it at Malice Domestic, the evening of Friday April 21.

 

Reviews

Escape Clause
by James O. Born
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Hardcover, 324 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 0399153349
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Special Agent Billy Tasker, of the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, has been through a series of calamitous events in the previous six months, lastly being shot up and undergoing painful rehab.  Just at the end of his recovery, he is in a bank with his young daughter when two armed robbers enter the bank.  One shoots the bank manager dead.  Billy can't just stand by: he shoots the killer and apprehends the other robber.

Procedure, of course, following the shooting, is to place Billy on administrative leave pending investigations.  While he is cleared, a possible grand jury inquiry looms.  A governor's aide offers a deal to make a possible indictment go away—and there is no choice but to accept.  It is suggested he take a working "vacation," investigating the death of an inmate at a state correctional institution.  The inmate is the son of a wealthy contributor to the governor.  It's supposed to be a whitewash.

And as the Scot poet said: the best laid plans. Tasker gets involved in all kinds of side issues, plots and unorthodox prison procedures.  A couple of murders contribute to the complications.  And his love life becomes equally complicated.  Somehow the entangled web comes together in an ending that is explosive, not to mention dangerous to Tasker and his newly found love interest.

The author moves the story back and forth among a series of interesting characters.  The high quality of writing in his previous books is maintained throughout, as is the plotting and atmosphere.  Completely enjoyable, Escape Clause is an excellent read.

 

Whipsaw
by Steve Brewer
Intrigue Press
Hardcover, 256 pages, $24
ISBN: 1890768707
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Whipsaw is the name of a computer game devised by DelaTek, a fledgling firm for which Matt Donahue headed security after leaving the Marine Corps, and which has now become quite successful, making its founder, David LaCosta, very wealthy.  Donahue left that firm two years ago after his wife left him for LaCosta, to whom she is now married.  Understandably, there is no love lost between the two men. 

But when LaCosta asks Matt to help him retrieve the stolen source code for Whipsaw as well as the gaming platform built around it, on which virtually the entire future of the company rests, as computer gaming is currently a huge market and the company having invested everything to develop them, Matt has little choice but to agree, since his own financial future is tied up heavily in DelaTek stock.  The hackers responsible have demanded a $3-million ransom, specifying that Matt deliver the money.  But things do not go as planned, and Matt now feels compelled to see the search for the culprits through.  Kate Allison, the beautiful head of Systems Security for the firm, lends a hand, and the plot takes off from there.  The corpses start to pile up as the chase continues, right up to its exciting finish (despite my having guessed the identity of the "bad guy" before the author identified him). 

Steve Brewer, the author of two mystery series, has written a standalone worthy of his prior novels.  Whipsaw is a fast-moving, well-written tale.  Quibble: there are a couple of points at which the dialogue gets a bit melodramatic and doesn't quite ring true, e.g., at one point LaCosta says "Let's go save this company," which sort of had the ring of the old "Let's put on a show" line.  But it is a fun and quick read, filled with wonderful descriptions of San Francisco, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Who Killed Swami Schwartz
by Nora Charles
Berkley
Paperback, 214 pages, $6.50
ISBN: 042520019
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Kate Kennedy attends a dinner for Swami Schwartz, founder of the Palmetto Beach Yoga Institute.  Swami drops dead because someone spiked his double espresso with cyanide.

Kate is recently widowed and fairly new to retirement in South Florida.  Her ex-sister-in-law Marlene lives in the same condo building.  The two of them decide to try to figure out why he was poisoned.

Their investigation leads them to a cryogenics firm where you can have your head frozen for $30,000 or your whole body for $128,000. 

There is a plethora of suspects.  Can they figure out who did it and why without putting themselves in danger?

I really enjoy this series.  I think Kate is a fun senior sleuth.  The escapades that she and Marlene get into are very entertaining.  It is a fun, fast read.  A great cozy mystery.

For those of you who might not know, she has also written the Ghostwriter series as Noreen Wald.  They're great fun too.

I highly recommend this book.

Three Can Keep A Secret
by Judy Clemens
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 244 pages $24.95
ISBN: 1590581849
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

In the months before Three Can Keep A Secret opens, life has not been kind to Stella Crown.  A major barn on her diary farm burned; her farmhand and lifelong friend, Howie, was killed and she herself was involved in a motorcycle accident that injured her and seriously damaged her Harley.  But now things are looking up, or so it seems.

She hires a new hand for the farm, Lucy Pratt, a Mennonite widow with a young daughter.  Lucy is knowledgeable, pleasant and hard working.  She is also a crack shot, as she proves dispatching a copperhead snake that has found its way into the milking parlor.  But then the questions begin to arise.  Between anonymous phone calls, vandals coming to the farm and Lucy's own unwillingness to discus what happened to her husband, Stella begins to worry.  The arrival at the farm of various members of Lucy's dead husband's family does not do anything to cure Stella's uneasiness.

Added to the uncertainty on the farm, there are also questions arising at the Biker Barn, run by Lenny and Bart, longtime friends of Stella's. Lenny is acting strangely and its not only because of the attractiveness of the widowed farmhand at the dairy farm.  He first wants to talk with the local police, and then decides against it.  There are secrets in his past that may embroil Stella in still more trouble.

Judy Clement has written an interesting story combining three disparate worlds—diary farming, Mennonite society and the biker subculture.  Each is portrayed with knowledge, understanding and a sympathetic touch. Stella is a rich and interesting protagonist with grit and intelligence and a past that she must deal with. In addition there is a strong supporting cast including Abe, who casts romantic eyes at Stella, and the Granger Mennonite family headed up by Ma, a good person to have on your side regardless of the circumstances.

The story is well written and skillfully told.  The only problem with the book is the heavy dose of references to a backstory which assumes that the reader has read the first volume in the series.  The references do not interfere with the current plot and the unraveling of the mysteries of the secrets of the various current characters, but it does leave one with the feeling of having come to the party somewhat late. 

Three Can Keep A Secret is an enjoyable read and I recommend it.

 

Air Dance Iguana
by Tom Corcoran
Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover, 291 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0312291337
Reviewed by Angela McQuay

Anyone who has ever wanted to visit or become a resident of Key West, Florida will enjoy the atmosphere of Tom Corcoran's Alex Rutledge mystery Air Dance Iguana.  Rutledge is doing his best to get out the work that he's become known for—crime scene photography.  Rutledge would much rather spend his time with his lover, Detective Bobbi Lewis, relaxing on one of the more laid-back Keys while he house sits for an acquaintance.  However, when the late night call comes, Rutledge answers the call of duty and ends up photographing a gruesome hanging.  Soon, another similar murder occurs and Alex knows that it can't be coincidence.  Though he's sworn off police work, Rutledge finds himself intrigued with the case and looking for answers.

Air Dance Iguana is Corcoran's fifth Alex Rutledge mystery and fans won't be disappointed by this installment.  The mystery is solid and will keep you guessing until the last pages.  Alex Rutledge is an interesting character with a deadpan wit and sharp intelligence that makes him perfect for a mystery hero.  But the real stars of the show are the Florida Keys themselves.  Corcoran obviously knows his stuff when it comes to writing about the islands and it shows in every page.  This provides a great background for the mystery and will be a bonus for anyone who wants to know more about the inner workings of the Keys.

Air Dance Iguana is recommended for anyone who enjoys mysteries, especially Florida mysteries.  With just the right amount of serious mystery and humor, Corcoran's latest is a winner. 

 

Chain a Lamb Chop to the Bed
by Denise Dietz
Five Star Publishing
Hardcover, 372 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 1594144222
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cohen

In this, the fourth in the Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller series, centered around a weight loss counselor and her boyfriend the Colorado detective, someone is killing people associated with a celebrated artist who just happens to be a friend of Ellie's (she has posed for him).  All this goes on around the ranch where Ellie and Peter have come for a well-deserved vacation.

Problem is, the murders follow them there.  Dietz populates her book with interesting characters, no caricatures here, and gives them things to do that aren't stupid, which is something of a relief.  As Ellie is drawn into the investigation, it becomes clear that there are any number of people who have a grudge against Garrett Halliday, the artist at the center of the storm, and his wife Heather, who was badly scarred in a fire at her husband's studio some time before.

Among the more interesting suspects are a 15-year-old niece of Peter's and the object of her affection, a young ranch hand who has a drinking problem.  But Ellie's rooting for the murderer to be Kit, who seems to be angling for Peter and clearly is trying to undermine Ellie.

The mechanics of the mystery aside, it's always fun to drop in on Ellie (sometimes called "Norrie") and Peter, whose relationship is never as simple as it seems to be, but isn't ever mean-spirited.  They love each other, but not unconditionally, and that makes them fun to watch.

Dietz does pile on the relationships between characters almost to the point of confusion, but not quite. She understands the need for a sense of humor, but never to the detriment of the characters.  The mystery is solved (in fact, a number of mysteries are solved), but our focus is always on the people involved, and that's exactly how it should be.

 

Face Down Beside St. Anne's Well: A Lady Appleton Mystery
by Kathy Lynn Emerson
Perseverance Press
Paperback, 240 pages, $13.95
ISBN: 1880284820
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

There have been nine previous novels in this series, but, I must confess, this is the first I've read.  It is set in the year 1575, and the setting and language is Elizabethan.  A three-page glossary of terms is provided to assist the reader in various quaint terms.  On the whole, the cast of characters, period and customs described are charming.

Without going into a lot of detail, at the heart of the mystery is the discovery of a body face down in a well.  It is ruled a case of accidental drowning.  However, teenage Rosamond, a ward of Lady Appleton, believes it was really a murder.  She tries to enlist a friend to provide her with information about poisoned mushrooms, which she thinks is the cause of death.  Lady Appleton, who has extensive knowledge of poisons, learns of this, and travels to join her ward to protect her.

The plot is overlaid with possible intrigues to free Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, with claims to Elizabeth's crown, as well of that of France.  Other unusual devices include depicting teenage rebellion and willfulness, bisexual alliances and casual nude mixed bathing, common at spas at the time (and you thought nude beaches a relatively modern development).  Spying, religious antagonism—Catholic, Church of England, Protestant and Huguenot—and treason all play a part in complicating the tightly woven plot.

Some readers may find the stilted language difficult—but really it contributes to the authenticity of the novel.  The language and details are essential to this enjoyable tale.

Recommended.

For Love and Money
by Leslie Glass
Ballantine
Paperback, 296 pp., $6.99
ISBN: 0345447956
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In a departure from her excellent April Woo series, Nancy Glass has written a fast-moving novel in which the reader is plunged, practically from page one, into this tightly constructed standalone.  Annie Custer, bright, successful and ambitious stockbroker, has a lot going on in her life;  Her out-of-work husband, Ben, also a broker, is now in melt-down after a combination of things, not least PTSD following 9/11.  Their teenage daughter, Meg, is pursued by her own demons, while her younger sister, Bebe, is smoking marijuana, and her housekeeper is leaving to go back to Argentina. 

As if all this weren't enough, Annie's best friend, Carol, at her father's request, begs Annie to take possession of her mother's stocks and bonds (Carol's mother is apparently dying of cancer and her father becoming increasingly senile).  Annie feels she has no choice but to agree, fraught as the situation is with risk.  The total value of the "stash" of securities turns out to be well over $3 million.  Annie does take the securities (including a huge stack of bearer bonds at once incredibly valuable and dangerous for her to handle), all with appropriate powers of attorney and a complete list of what is being taken.  When Carol's father, not shockingly, promptly changes his mind, claims he "wuz robbed," and threatens to sue, the battle is joined.  Machinations by another client with securities purportedly worth millions make the picture complete.

Annie is an interesting protagonist, dealing with difficult situations in her personal and professional life, and the author gives us an interesting tale of loyalty, friendship, deception, and marriages teetering on the edge.

 

A Clean Kill
by Leslie Glass
Onyx
Paperback, 357 pages, $7.99
ISBN: 0451411897
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In the latest book in her excellent April Woo series, Nancy Glass takes us to the newest case being investigated by the recently promoted/recently married NYPD homicide detective, Lieutenant April Woo Sanchez, now Commanding Officer of the Midtown North Detective Unit.  She and her husband, Capt. Mike Sanchez, are scheduled to take a belated honeymoon cruise at the end of the week, but the murder of an East Side woman, the mother of two small children and wife of a renowned chef, threatens to interfere with those plans.  Hard upon the heels of that murder, another young wife/mother, and close friend of the first woman, is killed.  Similarities between the two crimes include the fact that their nannies were close friends, both coming from the same agency, both women shared the same personal trainer (in more ways than one), and both crime scenes were meticulously cleaned after the brutal murders.  There is fear that there is a serial killer on the loose, and a great deal of pressure to find him/her.  The nannies come under scrutiny [as one of the women tells April, "They hate us.  They wear our clothes.  They steal our things.  If they can get our husbands, they'll steal them too];" and the husbands come under suspicion as well.

The book is briskly paced and the police procedural aspects interestingly described.  Ms. Glass keeps the suspense growing.  This is another good entry in the series, and it is recommended.

 

The Last Full Measure
by Hal Glatzer
Perseverance Press/John Daniel Books
Paperback, 296 pages, $13.95
ISBN: 1880284847
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The all-girl band of which Katy Green, the protagonist in this series by Hal Glatzer, is a member has a gig on the liner the SS Lurline from San Francisco to Honolulu, on almost literally the eve of the American entry into WWII.  Distrust of Japanese people on the ship and in America is rampant.  The tale involves a treasure hunt on the Big Island, the nature of the prize of which is in doubt but the value of which is not.  The prospect of the treasure hunt leads to a murder during the cruise, and Katy becomes embroiled in the hunt for the murderer.  There are several potential suspects and few if any clues. 

There is a great deal of color and texture of the period in this entertaining novel, with interesting factual background on the history of Hawai'i.  The author makes the point that everybody has two faces, that being the case with several of the characters who populate his book.  There are parallels drawn between that period and today, e.g., "There's no point in 'declaring' war anymore.  If you need to make war, you just do it!'"  The problem for this reader was that the dialogue didn't ring true, even allowing for a different time and culture.  But maybe that was just me.  However, the descriptions of shipboard life and the lives of the musicians working on the ship and the sense of nostalgia created by the book definitely worked for me.

 

Prisoner of Memory
by Denise Hamilton
Scribner
Hardcover, 368 pages, $24
ISBN: 0743261941
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Prisoner of Memory brings the welcome return of Eve Diamond, LA Times reporter extraordinaire.  This book, the fifth in the series, brings Eve on the trail of a story which resonates somewhat more personally in that her own family's Russian heritage seems intertwined with her hunt for the killer of a young man, a son of a Russian émigré, found dead in Los Angeles' Griffith Park.  Coincidentally, or not, a man presents himself on Eve's doorstep, himself a Russian émigré, albeit illegally, claiming to be Eve's cousin—one of whose existence she had been unaware. 

Her investigation encompasses interviews with one or more former members of the KGB, as well as a disgraced FBI agent and mafia thugs.  Eve is frustrated all along the way with uncooperative people who refuse to shed any light on what is really going on, especially after the young man's brother barely survives an attempt on his life, and has her own life threatened as well.   Everyone warns her to stop asking questions.  In a subplot Eve finds herself with mixed feeling about both her lover, Silvio, introduced to the reader in the prior books, and Josh Brandywine, another journalist at the Times assigned to work with Eve on the story.

Denise Hamilton has, in her earlier books, revealed aspects of life in the LA area about which few people have any knowledge, and this book is no exception.  Eve is a terrific protagonist, tough yet tender, and gives the reader fascinating insights, obviously gained through the author's years as an LA journalist herself, into hidden enclaves of ethnic groups in a large metro area otherwise unsuspected and indeed unknown other than to those who live inside them.  The era that seems a distant memory of the Cold War and its aftermath is made to seem very alive and with much impact on the present lives of those who lived through it in that part of the world, either themselves or their forebears.  Prisoner of Memory is another winner for Denise Hamilton.

 

Final Fore
by Roberta Isleib
Berkley Prime Crime
Paperback, 275 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0425208966
Reviewed by Clara Johnson

Cassie prepares for the U.S. Women's Open.  Golfers, are you ready for this!  Even for us amateurs, we are with Cassie on and off the green.

A touch of anxiety begins this story. Even though there is passion and a definite love for the game, there are schedules to meet and a great deal of pressure. Cassie's favorite caddie, Laura, is not present.  This is just the beginning of disturbing events.  Cassie receives e-mails that instruct her not to enter one of the tournaments. For any of you that have dealt with junk e-mail or spam, you know that this can be more than annoying.  Now, add to that an element of threats and familiarity. Do not forget that the main character is still recovering from a past murder scare and an "on and off" romantic relationship. 

Witness the vulnerability of Cassie as her dad comes to caddy for her. Even though her family is dysfunctional and can be bizarre, they are here for her. Splintered as they are, this is a both a blessing and curse. 

When a rival golfer is poisoned, the threats and pranks against Cassie are taken more seriously.  You will be going through the cast of characters, trying to discern who would be the most likely stalker and killer. 

A bright spot in the book is when Cassie receives long distance assistance from her caddy. I like Laura and missed her in this installment. 

This is #5 in the "golf lover's mystery" series, preceded by Six Strokes Under, A Buried Lie, Putt to Death and Fairway to Heaven. Author Roberta Isleib brings a well-informed background to this golf course, as a clinical psychologist and golfer.  Enjoy!

Final Fore
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In her welcome return in Final Fore, Cassie Burdette is preparing for her first U.S. Open, the most prestigious tournament in women's golf, at the same time that she is trying to decide whether or not to accept an invitation to the upcoming Buick Championship, itself a wonderful testament to her abilities.

The setting is the campus of Mt. Holyoke College in Connecticut, referred to as a "rich girls' school," and one from which Julie Nothstine, a sophomore-year golfer who has befriended Cassie following the latter's panic attack on the day she arrives, graduated.  In addition, Cassie has recently been receiving strange, unsettling and sinister notes and e-mails containing veiled threats from someone who apparently doesn't want her playing in the PGA-sponsored tournament.  Among the cast of characters and ultimately potential suspects are Cassie's ex-boyfriend, Mike Callahan; her current not-quite-boyfriend, golf psychologist Joe Lancaster; her sponsor, Lloyd Pompano (who for one year is staking Cassie's expenses in exchange for 10% of her winnings, adding to Cassie's need to earn some money so she can end that obligation); Amber Clancy, a teenage amateur golfer/phenom; Amber's caddie, Jason, who Cassie knew from her Florida college days, and her famous coach, Lucien Beccia; and assorted other golfers.

The day before the start of the tournament, Amber is felled by convulsions, and there is suspicion that she was poisoned.  Her subsequent death hits Cassie particularly hard:  Amber had had a brief conversation with Cassie in which she felt her out about her well-known detecting skills, something Cassie didn't pursue, and her resultant feelings of guilt prompt her to investigate Amber's death.  The tension mounts as to both the outcome of the tournament and the identity of the killer/stalker, and the solution when it comes is a surprise.

The fact that this reader has never played a single hole of golf didn't detract from my enjoyment of this well-written novel, and I am certain golfers will absolutely love it.  Cassie is a terrific and very human protagonist.  The book is recommended.

 

Nothing To Fear But Ferrets
by Linda O. Johnston
Berkley
Paperback, 265 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0425203735
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Kendra Ballantyne is continuing her pet sitting business while studying to take the ethics exam in hopes of reinstating her law degree. 

A neighbor's Hummer crashes into her house.  She finds out the tenants living in her former home are keeping illegal ferrets. 

Soon after, Kendra discovers a corpse in her tenants' den.  The ferrets are the prime suspects. The corpse turned out to be Chad Chatsworth and Charlotte LaVerne, her tenant, and her boytoy Yul become suspects.  Charlotte asks Kendra to help prove they didn't do it.  Kendra had recently helped prove her own innocence.  With the help of her boyfriend Jeff Hubbard, a P.I. and security specialist, Kendra sets out to look into Chad's background.  She finds he had many enemies.

I really enjoy this series.  Kendra is a fun character.  Her pet sitting adds greatly to the enjoyment of this series.  Plus her relationship with Jeff and police detective Ned Noralles make for a fun read.

This cozy is a fun, easy read.  I always find myself coming to the end of the book before I realize it since I just want to keep reading.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series.  Can't wait to read Fine-Feathered Death, the next in the series.

 

Pretty Poison
by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Berkley
Paperback, 267 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0425202992
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Peggy Lee is widowed and now owns The Potting Shed, a local garden shop.  Her husband was a police detective.  She also teaches botany part-time at the local university. 

She arrives at her shop and finds a dead man.  How did he get inside her locked shop?  Who is he and who killed him?  And why here?  These are some of the many questions she wants answered.

He is Mark Warner, a very wealthy man.  The police arrest a local homeless man for the murder because he had Warner's shoes and belongings.  Peggy does not believe he killed him.  In the meantime, Peggy is adopted by an enormous Great Dane.  The only good thing is that she and the veterinarian seem to hit it off.

Peggy starts digging up secrets that someone doesn't want known.  She puts herself in danger to try to uncover the truth.

This is the first in a great new series.  I can't wait to read the next.  Peggy is a wonderfully crafted character.  The students she employs really add to the story.  I loved the Great Dane and the veterinarian, too.

The story is well developed and runs along at a good pace.  It is a wonderful cozy that you will find hard to put down.  I highly recommend this book.

 

Wedding's Widow
by Alex Matthews
Intrigue Press
Hardcover, 334 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1890768499
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Cassidy McCabe is a psychotherapist in Oak Park, outside of Chicago.  Cassidy has been treating Claire Linden through the divorce of her abusive ex-husband.  Now Claire is finally remarrying and Cassidy and her husband Zach, a reporter, are attending the wedding.

At the outdoor wedding, Max O'Connell, the groom, is shot before the vows can be completed.  Claire is devastated.  She asks Cassidy and Zach to help find out who killed Max.  Her ex-husband is a prime suspect, but she doesn't believe he did it.  Cassidy and Zach have helped solve a few crimes before, so they accept.

As they start uncovering Max's past, they find things were not quite as they seemed.  He was deeply in debt and suspects begin to start stacking up. Cassidy is being followed and threatened quite regularly.  She refuses to give up the investigation.

I had never read anything by this author before.  I really enjoyed this book.  I found myself continuously picking it back up to read another chapter to figure out who did it.  I thought the abundance of suspects was well written.  I did not figure out who did it before the killer was unmasked.

I like Cassidy and Zach.  They are well written and their interaction is great.  Just enough strife to make it interesting, but yet not so much that I got frustrated with them.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read another.

 

New Year's Eve Murder
by Leslie Meier
Kensington Books
Hardcover, 256 pages, $22
ISBN: 0758206992
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Elizabeth and her mother Lucy have won a makeover in a contest by Jolie magazine.  They, along with five other mother-daughter duos, go to New York for a weekend.  The contestants will all be judged, and the winning duo will win $10,000.

Lucy has just received a letter stating that due to their income increasing, they owe $10,000 towards Elizabeth's tuition that would have previously been covered by her scholarship.  That would be a problem except that this year their income has dropped significantly.  Lucy wants more than ever to win that $10,000 prize.

During the makeovers, the fashion editor is killed and Elizabeth is hospitalized.  It turns out Anthrax is the reason for both.  Lucy sets off to find who could have sent it and why.  She uncovers a lot of misdeeds, including quite a few hot-button issues.

I really like this series.  Lucy is a fun character.  This time she is outside her comfort zone, and because of that I think we see a different side of her.  I didn't mind that.  I thought it was written to fit the context of the story and situation, as well as the fact they were in New York City.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the next in this fabulous series.

 

The Fallen
by T. Jefferson Parker
William Morrow
Hardcover, 336 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0060562382
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Robbie Brownlaw, a San Diego homicide detective (self-described in a phrase new to me: a "dead dick"), suffers from synesthesia, a [probably] very real neurological disease—there appears to be some small bit of controversy over this defined as an involuntary joining of senses in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense.  In this instance, Robbie sees shapes and colors of emotions behind spoken words, a fact of which only he and his wife are aware. 

This came about following a near-miraculous recovery after being thrown out of 6th floor hotel window, turning Brownlaw into a local hero and resulting in two police department promotions.  For the most part this condition, sort of a built-in lie detector as deceptive speech provokes a very specific shape and color that seems to emit from the speaker's mouth.  All of this plays out as mostly background in The Fallen, but an intriguing one. 

As the book opens Robbie and his partner are called in to investigate the death, which may or may not be a suicide, of Garrett Asplundh, a former cop who was now an ethics investigator.  The search turns up evidence of the dead man's current investigations into possible corruption both inside various law enforcement agencies and city government, and the detectives are urged to keep whatever findings they may uncover under wraps and in-house.  They must also look at a motive of a more personal nature.  Garrett and his wife have been separated since the tragic drowning death of their three-year old daughter, and on the night of his death they were to meet for what may have been a reconciliation.  Robbie and his wife are going through their own marital troubles.  Both men are married to very beautiful women they adore, and the difficulties in their marriages and the toll taken on all concerned are movingly drawn.

This is another suspense-filled novel by Parker, his 13th book.  His descriptions of San Diego and its environs are excellent, and his characters very well-drawn.  The power game played among the various government movers and shakers, as well as the wannabes and those lower down in that food chain, are compelling.  Another strong book from this author.

 

The Heat of the Moon
by Sandra Parshall
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 292 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 159058256X
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Dr. Rachel Goddard is a 26-year-old veterinarian working in a clinic near Washington, DC.  She and her 23-year-old sister, Michelle, a graduate student in psychology (following in her mother's footsteps), and their mother, Judith, live together in what is described as a house of secrets.  Introduced into Rachel's life is Dr. Luke Campbell, the new owner of the clinic, whose interest in Rachel she is gradually returning.  Her "normal" life is thrown into chaos one day when an incident at the clinic with a terrified child whose dog has been hit by a car brings back mental images, buried for years, of herself and her sister as small children.  She finds herself flashing back to a scene from past nightmares—a child's fearful cries, a woman's sad face, a man's angry shouts.

Five years old when her father died, Rachel has been unable to conjure up any memories of him; her mother, who until now has refused to ever discuss anything about Rachel's father, now, shockingly, tells her that in her grief and rage at his death, Rachel burned every photo of him that she could find.  Suddenly uncertain of any of the purported facts about her early years, she becomes consumed by the need to find out whatever she can, despite the difficulty of doing so in this household of unspoken things.  Her mother and, as well, her sister, do whatever they can to dissuade her—Rachel feels that these two psychologists often inhabit a world she cannot enter.  But she cannot allow them to convince her to drop her quest (nor to stop seeing Luke, who has made her feel for the first time that she can indeed fall in love and open her heart to all that entails).  What else can you do when everything you think you know about yourself may be a lie?

The Heat of the Moon is a haunting tale of the secrets we all keep—about which we may not really want to know the truth. It had me in its grip from the first page to the last, with suspense so intense I couldn't put the book down, although the ambivalence of fearing to find out what Rachel would discover made me do so periodically till I steeled myself against what was to come. Sandra Parshall is indeed a fresh new voice on the scene, and this book is a masterful debut.

Highly recommended.

 

Nightlife
by Thomas Perry
Random House
Hardcover, 373 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1400060044
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Charlene Buckner is a young woman described by the author as "like a machine that didn't have some crucial part.  The motor whirred and the wheels turned, but it didn't work right."  She seems to have no conscience, morality, or empathy for any other human.  Charlene develops the knack, almost instinctively, of donning other personalities, altering her appearance to fit each new name she carefully selects for her new persona, sometimes stealing another woman's identity, sometimes just conjuring up someone that seems to fit her perceived goals of the moment. 

All this as her own persona develops into that of a serial killer, choosing her victims carefully and killing them when circumstances threaten her safety one way or another or her potential exposure.  Her first killing takes place in Oregon, and the homicide detective assigned to the case is Catherine Hobbes.  The killings continue and Charlene's path takes her to other parts of the West, one piece of evidence or another connects them to Charlene, and Catherine tracks her quarry as the bodies pile up.  At some point the pursued becomes the pursuer, as Charlene perceives Catherine as the primary threat to her continued freedom and becomes obsessed with killing the policewoman.  At some point Catherine meets and teams up, briefly, with Joe Pitt, a private detective and former cop employed by a relative of the first victim, and they develop a personal relationship.

The characters are very well-drawn by Mr. Perry; Charlene particularly evokes a fascination mixed with something akin to horror as her personality evolves, chameleon-like.  The denouement required a small suspension of disbelief, but the suspense builds up throughout the book, and the personal and professional aspects are resolved in a quite satisfying manner.  The author has written several suspense-filled novels prior to this one, including the wonderful Jane Whitfield series, all of which I have enjoyed immensely, and this one is recommended as well.

 

Mourners: A Nameless Detective Novel
by Bill Pronzini
Forge
Hardcover; 285 pp., $24.95
ISBN 0-765-309 32-7
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Bill Pronzini is among that rare group of authors, like the late Ed McBain, who just keeps writing masterful novels, of which Mourners is the latest (his 33rd book).

The detective agency is asked to delve into what has changed Lynn Troxell's husband's behavior in the past few months.  Seems like an innocuous situation—a girlfriend on the side, for instance, something Mrs. Troxell adamantly insists is not possible.  So Nameless and Jake Runyon, with Tamara's assistance, take on the task, and it ultimately proves to be anything but innocuous.

Jake is dealing with his wife's death from cancer; Nameless with his daughter's approaching adolescence and his wife's uncharacteristic reticence, as well as the question of the identity of her "real" father; Tamara's 7-year relationship with Horace has just crashed and burned.  And the initial investigation morphs into a search for the man who strangled and raped a young woman, whose grave is regularly visited, flowers and all, by Mr. Troxell.  (I had one small quibble: at one point the author refers to an attorney who was "defending a plaintiff in a civil suit."  This would seem to be a contradiction in terms—I'm guessing the correct word would have been "representing" a plaintiff.)

Mr. Pronzini has written another winner.

 

Blood Hunt
by Ian Rankin
Little Brown
Hardcover, 385 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0316009113
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Gordon Reeve is a former soldier, having served in the SAS/Special Forces, now in business doing survivalist training over 72 hour periods at his property in Scotland.  His even-keeled life is interrupted one day by a phone call telling him that his brother, James, a journalist, has been found dead in San Diego, California, his death apparently a suicide.  Gordon flies out to the States, alone, his wife and son staying at home.  What he finds leads him to have serious doubts that his brother committed suicide, and he becomes convinced that he was murdered.  He returns home to Scotland, having had his brother's body cremated in the US, and continues his search to find what his brother was working on that had caused him to go to California and led to his death.  Relentless does not begin to describe his quest.

Reeve discovers ties to a huge international company, and finds that tracking down his brother's past movements in that direction, and his own now, has inherent problems when he contemplates exposing the truth of what he finds: "...as long as... companies like them are throwing money at advertising departments, publishers will love them, and the publishers will see to it that their editors never print anything that might upset Sugar Daddy."  The plot takes the reader from Scotland to San Diego to England, France, Wales, NYC and Washington DC, with plenty of nerve-jangling suspense as it goes roaring into its denouement.

The author delves into Nietzsche and other philosophers of that period; he quotes David Hume thus:  "A man, brought to the brink of a precipice, cannot look down without trembling," and indeed begins the book with the line "He stood on the edge of the abyss, staring down." 

Mr. Rankin's writing, as we've come to expect from this author, is wonderful, and seems to effortlessly carry the reader along with him.  This is an author who never disappoints.

 

Knit One, Kill Two
By Maggie Sefton
Berkley
Paperback, 280 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 042520359X
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Kelly Flynn returns to Colorado after her aunt Helen's death.  She inherits her aunt's cottage.  It is across the street from her aunt's former farmhouse which has been converted to a yarn store, House of Lambspun, in one half and a café in the other half.

The police believe her aunt's death was the result of a burglary gone bad.  Kelly doesn't agree.  Aunt Helen had just borrowed $20,000.  Why?  And more importantly, where is that money now?  Also, Kelly finds some other items missing. 

Kelly needs to return to her accounting job in DC, but talks her employer into letting her do some work from there while looking into the circumstances surrounding her aunt's death. What Kelly finds is the women at House of Lambspun are willing to help her.

I'm not a knitter, so sometimes the references to knitting were a bit overdone for me. Overall, I enjoyed this book.  It is a great first mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series.  Hopefully Kelly's character will really evolve and the love interest with Steve Townsend, a local developer, and her friendships with the ladies at House of Lambspun will grow and provide a little more variety in the next book.

I recommend this book.

Dead Giveaway
by Leann Sweeney
Signet
Paperback, 266 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 045121708X
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Abby Rose is a PI specializing in adoption.  She's also a Texas heiress.

Will Knight hires her to find his birth family.  He's now a superstar college athlete, but once he was a baby abandoned on a doorstep.

There aren't many clues to his background, just an expensive baby blanket and Verna Mae, the woman who found him. Abby meets with Verna Mae.  She feels Verna Mae knows more than she is telling.  But before they can meet again, Verna Mae is murdered. 

Abby is determined to find the truth.  She follows the clues from the Huntsville state prison to the richest parts of Houston.  Someone feels she's asking too many questions. 

I really like Abby Rose.  She is a fun and likeable, well-written character. This is a quick and enjoyable cozy to read.  The Texas setting really lends itself to the story, and I highly recommend this book.

 

Shadows At The Fair
by Lea Wait
Scribner
Hardcover, 254 pages, $24
ISBN: 0743225538
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Recently widowed Maggie Summer is participating in the Rensselaer County Spring Antiques Fair.  She owns Shadows Antiques.  There have been some deaths of antique dealers, so everyone is on edge.  Security has been tightened for the show as well.

Many of the same dealers who were at the show where John Smithson died of a poisoning the previous week are at this show.  The dealers make the identical circuit each year and seem to know each other well, but appearances can be deceiving.

On opening night there is another death.  The show goes on, but Maggie spends almost as much time investigating as she does selling antiques.  She is determined to help prove that her friend Gussie's nephew Ben, who has Down's syndrome, is not the killer. But she can't believe any of these people that she knows could be a killer. 

I really enjoy this series.  Maggie is an enjoyable character.  The interspersing of information about antiques really moves the story.  I found myself having trouble putting the book down.  I'm not an antiques enthusiast, but the way she weaves the story and the antiques information together really makes it interesting.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

 

Murder By Committee

Read past installments and find out more about Murder By Committee

Chapter 23
by Ralph Pezzullo

Ralph Pezzullo is the New York Times bestselling author of Jawbreaker (with Gary Berntsen), At the Fall of Somoza, Plunging Into Haiti and the mystery novel Eve Missing. He's written his chapter in the style of the great Mexican author Juan Rulfo.

We were running through the trees, the moist wind caressing my face, the runway bobbing up and down in the distance like an oasis in a desert of lies. The little Mayan man smiled up at me, his tiny, bare feet skimming the rocky ground.

The joy on his ancient face almost made me forget about the danger, the intense burning in my lungs and the sharp stings in my calves. With the faint scent of orange in the air, it almost felt like a pleasant dream until I heard the dogs panting behind us and gaining ground.

"Faster," I screamed. "They're on our heels!"

Seemingly without effort, he sped up and disappeared into the trees ahead. I immediately grew disheartened and thought about giving up. My situation seemed helpless. The dogs' hot breath was on my heels.

Then suddenly, the Mayan was at my side again.  "No preoccupe," he whispered.

"What do you mean, don't worry? We're screwed!"

"Screwed?"

He tilted his Mayan face up towards me quizzically, then he threw his head back and let out the loudest, most unsettling scream I've ever heard in my life.

The next thing I heard was the steady drone of an engine. Spread before me lay a sea of blue.

Whatever was holding us aloof felt light as a cloud, gently veering left, then right. I pried open my eyes and beheld an incongruous sight. My nameless Mayan friend sat calmly at the controls of my cargo plane in a pair of olive shorts. Nothing else. He had his bare feet up on the seat and was lazily scratching his balls.

My mouth tasted sour. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton gauze.

"How long have I been... sleeping?" I asked, trying to establish some semblance of control.

"Many hours." His chest and arms were strong, his face unlined but wise, his hair and eyes jet black. I guessed at his age. Thirty-five.

"How many hours?"

He stretched his brown lips across his flat, coffee-colored face and held up five short fingers.

"Oh, my..." The unreality of my situation hit me, and I felt a fluttering in my chest.

"Everything... fine," he purred in broken English. "Fffine..."

I sat up and adjusted my blouse. "Where did you learn to fly?" I asked.

He turned to me and shrugged.

"Where... Where are we headed?"

He lowered his feet to the floor and gasped the wheel eagerly with both hands. "You be happy."

"Why?"

"I take you to see... my people."

"Your people?" He could see the alarm in my eyes.

"My people, yes. No worry. They think you... zero."

"Zero?"

"Hero," he said struggling to pronounce it right.

I couldn't imagine why anyone would consider me a hero. I couldn't understand how I had been transported from the wooded California island to the cabin of my plane. I didn't know who this strange Mayan-looking man was and what he wanted with me. But for some reason he put me at ease.

"Do you have a name?" I asked peering into his brilliant, black, impenetrable eyes.

"Zuvayo," he answered.

"Zuvayo?"

"You can call me Miguel."

The constant danger of the last few days start to press in on me. It was getting hard to breathe.

Miguel reached over and lay his warm hand on mine. "Relax. It's okay..."

I nodded bravely. "Yes."

Ten minutes passed. I starred ahead at the endless blue and concentrated on the whine of the engine. A part of my mind said that I was in serious danger. But the rest of me didn't believe that at all.

He started speaking slowly, haltingly. I had trouble understanding at first. He was telling me about his people, the Mayan Indians, and the secrets they had preserved for thousands of years.

"People look at us and they think we are ignorant. But we know some things that would amaze them. These things have been learned since the days when gods visited earth and passed through many generations. The gods are gone now. They are working someplace else. But one day they will be back."

I didn't know what he was talking about and couldn't imagine what this had to do with me.

Then he smiled at me and asked: "You ready?"

I swallowed hard. "For what?"

"We go down now."

"To where?"

He pointed out the window to the rich green showing through the clouds. I looked out at the sky, quickly trying to get my bearing, when he said: "My home."

"Your home?"

"Chinajá."

He dipped the wing sharply to the right and we started to descent. I was so tired and disoriented that I gave myself completely over to him. He handled the plane skillfully and within fifteen minutes we were touching down gently on a dirt swath cut into the jungle.

As we bounced to a stop, Miguel turned to me and held up one finger. "First time," he said.

"First?" I asked incredulously.

He nodded his head up and down.