August 2006

Welcome to the Dog Days of Mystery Morgue! Many seeking to beat the heat have already arrived, but there's plenty of room for more; come on in!

We've welcomed a new group of reviewers (in addition to those who have served so faithfully in the past—in other words, we didn't dump anybody) who bring interesting perspective to the world of mystery books, so you'll notice some new names and hopefully a few new viewpoints.

And there's plenty to read: 25 mystery books are reviewed this month, with entries from such favorites as Denise Hamilton, Troy Cook, Elaine Viets, Kathy Brandt and Libby Fischer Hellmann.

Plus, there's a nifty interview with Alex Sokoloff, who explains her sense of place and her unique perspective among young people with "issues." And this month's "How I Write," following up on Troy Cook's essay last month, is by Troy's father Bruce R. Cook, himself the author of Philippine Fever.

And lurking down at the bottom, a new and utterly baffling chapter of "Murder By Committee" is contributed by Naomi Hirahara, author of the Mas Arai mystery series.

Plunge in! It's nice and cool here in the Morgue!

In this month's issue:

How I Write or There's a Method to the Madness, by Bruce R. Cook
The Mystery Morgue Interview: Alexandra Sokoloff

Reviews:
No Nest for the Wicket, by Donna Andrews
All Roads Lead to Murder: A Case From the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger, by Albert A. Bell, Jr.
Lifeless, by Mark Billingham
Swimming With The Dead, by Kathy Brandt
As Dog Is My Witness, by Jeffrey Cohen
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers, by Troy Cook
The Poet's Funeral, by John M. Daniel
Scare the Light Away, by Vicki Delany
The Princess of Burundi, by Kjell Eriksson
Baby Shark, by Robert Fate
Blown Away, by Shane Gericke
For Love And Money, by Leslie Glass
Prisoner of Memory, by Denise Hamilton
A Shot to Die For, by Libby Fischer Hellmann
The Betrayed, by David Hosp
Copper River, by William Kent Krueger
A House Divided, by Deborah LeBlanc
Destroying Angels, by Gail Lukasik
Vanishing Point: A Sharon McCone Mystery, by Marcia Muller
Dead Game, by Kirk Russell
Frostline, by Justin Scott
Deceit, by James Siegel
Arizona Dreams: A David Mapstone Mystery, by Jon Talton
Just Murdered, by Elaine Viets
Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

Ongoing Story:
"Murder By Committee," Chapter 27, by Naomi Hirahara

Link to Archives

 

How I Write, or There's a Method to the Madness
by Bruce R. Cook

Though Philippine Fever is my first novel, I had already written 30 screenplays, a textbook, hundreds of short articles for the film industry, and directed 7 feature films. 

Writing is an artistic process with a great deal of craftsmanship.  As in other creative crafts—building a house, making a movie, preparing a meal—preparation is key to getting the result you want.

I use an analytic approach in the planning stages of a work because it makes it easier to be creative during the actual composition.  I found the process of planning crucial to writing my first novel, just as it been in screenplays and non-fiction.

My novel relies on sensory description to involve the reader (as opposed to a purely intellectual appeal).  I first draw up a list of settings where the action will take place. 

I make sure that there is sufficient variety of setting to keep the action from stagnating. I want the locations to differ from one another enough that there will be no confusion about where an event takes place.

I draw up my list of characters, beginning with the protagonist and antagonist, making sure that there are sidekicks, helpers, partners, and walk-ons.  I clarify gender, class background, backstory, ethnicity, age, and physical descriptors for each of them. 

Then I place a key character in peril (or already dead) in one of those settings.

I know that screenplays require about 40 incidents or events in 100 minutes, and that a novel requires from 100 to 120.  I think of all the incidents that must happen, then add events that bridge between those key incidents. 

Because no set of events for any person or group of people exists in a vacuum I try to add parallel story strands. These story lines may end up only being reported by a character, rather than directly observed by the reader. 

I string the events/incidents together like pearls on a strand of silk.  Each is allocated the number of pages that it merits in terms of its importance to the story.

I check to make sure that too many events have not clumped together in the same setting.  If I return to a setting I ensure that a slightly different set of characters are there this time.  No set of characters or settings ever repeats exactly unless I need the irony of that sameness.

I create a 3x5 card for each of these events/incidents.  I list the characters, setting, time of day, and date.  I write a brief synopsis of the action.  If there is a key line of dialog, it may be there verbatim, but mostly it is a report of what the dialog covers. 

Then I lay the cards on a long trestle table (or a counter or the floor) and look for problems of sequence or setting repetition or character inconsistency or characters disappearing from the story line for too long a time.

Once the story line issues are resolved, I pick up the 3x5 card for scene 1 and begin writing.  When I have finished scene 1, I go on to scene 2, and so on.

If I find that I am stuck on scene 17, I skip it and go on to scene 18.  By the time I complete scene 19 or 20 whatever was bothering me about scene 17 is now clear in my mind.

If I have forgotten a crucial plot point or I haven't introduced a character at the right time, it is easy to spot where it belongs.  I go back to that 3x5 card, annotate it—and then keep moving ahead with the storyline. I know that if I stop to rewrite scene 1 over and over until it is perfect, I will never complete the manuscript. 

By the time I am making a second pass on the novel or script, I may find that scene 1 no longer needs to be in the novel at all.  As the author I needed to know all the information in scene 1, but it may not be necessary for the reader to have it all so clearly laid out.

Does this seem to lack creativity or spontaneity to you?  The creativity will come into play as you craft each scene, as the characters come to life and speak on their own, as new twists to the plot appear unbidden.  But in the end you still have a road map that will help focus all these spontaneous bits into a unified whole.

Or maybe not. I suppose sitting cross-legged on the floor wearing a thong and sharing a bottle of tequila with your muse could get it done, too.  This works for me. No guarantee it will work for you, but best of luck however you do it.

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Alexandra Sokoloff

Alexandra Sokoloff grew up in both Northern and Southern California as the daughter of scientist and educator parents. She acted, sang, danced and played classical piano, and at sixteen lived in Istanbul as an AFS exchange student.

After college she moved to Los Angeles, where she has made an interesting living writing novel adaptations and original suspense and horror scripts for numerous Hollywood studios (Sony, Fox, Disney, Miramax), for producers such as Michael Bay, David Heyman, Laura Ziskin and Neal Moritz. Her adaptation of Sabine Deitmer's psychological thriller Cold Kisses, co-written with Kimball Greenough and Thomas Reuter, was filmed in Germany by director Carl Schenkel.

The Harrowing is her first novel, and is based on real experiences from her high school and college years. The psychological undercurrents of the book are drawn from her experience teaching emotionally disturbed and incarcerated teenagers in the Los Angeles County prison system.

Did the area where you grew up influence your present outlook or interests?

Oh, no doubt! Berkeley isn't just a place; it's a state of mind.  You grow up learning to read on bumper stickers that say  QUESTION AUTHORITY and TEACH PEACE and A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE HOUSE—AND IN THE SENATE and believe me, it has an influence!  Plus the town is a time capsule of the sixties, in many ways—that philosophy and political mindset is still very pervasive.  My very first memories are of hippies in the Haight—I always just assumed free love and rock and roll were what being an adult was all about (actually I still haven't recovered from the crushing disappointment of reality...).  I'm always looking for the edge and the outrageous. And everything is political, to me. Big surprise—I'm a radical!

As to your educational background, have you taken any formal writing courses, participated in any writers' conferences or workshops?

My training for writing was in theater.  Acting, directing, choreography, dance—I learned to write by learning all those other parts, first.  I trained in improvisational playmaking with a phenomenal Dutch director, Shireen Strooker of the Amsterdam Werkteater. Then I started writing in an improvisational acting troupe—so it was all very hands-on and up-on-your-feet, with instant audience feedback.  If it worked, you knew it.  When I moved to L.A. to pursue screenwriting I took the classic story structure classes with Robert McKee (very inspiring) and John Truby (the best writing class I've ever had).  Then when I was writing The Harrowing I got involved with a fantastic critique group under the direction of author and USC professor Sid Stebel.  That was my down and dirty novel education.  I never actually did the conferences until I was attending as a panelist.

What part has your teaching experience played in your writing?

I was in an intense teaching situation—I worked part-time teaching English and History to incarcerated and emotionally disturbed teenage boys in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court system. Of course I learned way more from them than they ever learned from me!  What it taught me would take a book to recount, but it certainly shows up in my writing in the forum of the constant battle between good and evil: vulnerable characters facing horrific and insane circumstances and triumphing through love and will and loyalty. The experience was an open window on psychological trauma and abuse issues, which are an undercurrent in The Harrowing, and in my next novel, The Price.

How/when did you become interested in mysteries?

I just always was, from the time I could read. In a book of stories I would skip over everything else and go straight to the mysteries, thrillers, ghost stories. My dad is a huge detective/sci-fi/horror fan so there were always tons of those books around the house, all the classics. I devoured Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle and Poe and LeFanu at the same time I was reading Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew.  I started with all that so early it must just have been in my DNA—or soul, if you will!

What did you try writing before your first novel?

Journals, of course, endlessly.  As I've said I wrote and performed in theater for a long time, from the age of eight, I'd say (we wrote and put on plays in the garage and charged a quarter—at the same time that I was starting to act in Civic Light Opera productions).  Reading and writing coverage reports for film companies was one of my day jobs when I was learning to write screenplays, and then I've made a living at screenwriting for more than ten years, now.

What did you learn writing The Harrowing?

I learned I should be writing novels. I feel like a total moron for not having made the switch long before. But it's all the same path, right? Ultimately? Sigh.

How long did it take to write?

I'm not really sure.  My screenwriting partner and I were doing a film job, a novel adaptation, at the time I started writing The Harrowing, and I was just putting in an hour or two a day on the novel.  It was kind of a surprise when I got to the end of the first draft.  Then I had to put it aside for a month or two while we did intensive rewrites on the script, then I did a flurry of rewriting on the novel, then I did another pass working with my critique group. I guess it was about a year, total, but I couldn't honestly say!

Does your having lived in Northern California play any part in your writing?

I've written scripts set in Berkeley and San Francisco and Marin, but no novels yet.  I'm very promiscuous about place—I'll set a story wherever works best thematically.

Have you traveled?  If so, has it contributed to the content of your book?

Yes, tons of traveling.  My family took a long cross-country road trip every summer, exploring different routes and states each time.  I think those road trips made me a writer—seeing all the infinitely varied ways of life in this country—and often nothing to do for days but stare out the window at the changing landscape and make up stories—kidnappings, murders, ghosts, prehistoric creatures from the mesas.

Then I was an exchange student to Turkey when I was sixteen (which would make a writer out of anyone!)—and I would say the alienation and isolation of that experience is very much present in The Harrowing, in the young protagonist and the other characters of the story.

Then of course lots of international travel once I was old enough to pay for it myself. I love it—cities, wilderness, water, mountains, desert—all of it. Every place I go is a potential story.

How do you do your research?

I always travel to the place where I'm setting a story and spend as much time as I can immersing myself—the story always practically writes itself that way. I do massive research in related subjects—for The Price I'm reading dozens of books about cancer and Boston history and politics and I'm getting the Boston Globe delivered by mail. I talk to specialists in pertinent fields, and of course, the Internet is every writer's best friend.

What do you read for pleasure?

Mysteries, thrillers, horror.  I only write because I can never find the exact book I'm looking for, so I have to do it myself.  Otherwise I'd be fine with just reading.

I also love biographies and collections of letters.  And I get huge pleasure out of my research reading—that's the really fun part of this job!

Where did you get the idea for The Harrowing?

That's easy—it happened to me in high school!  A group of us were very into the whole séance in graveyards, ESP, dream interpretation kind of exploration, and one might we really did seem to contact a malevolent energy outside ourselves.  In the middle of the séance a glass candlestick shattered on the wall in front of us.  I'm much more inclined to believe that it was the hyped-up combination of all our adolescent angst that created that force, but the mystery of it stayed with me.  I'd always wanted to do a Haunting of Hill House-inspired psychological ghost story with emotionally troubled college students, and that high school incident was a perfect jumping-off point.

When you create a character, how much of that character comes from your personal experience?  Are your characters just an extension of your own life and are their experiences from your own life, or are they completely fictional?

I don't tend to start a character from myself, although I could say that in the case of The Harrowing I just split myself in half, and one half became Robin and the other became Lisa. That story, unlike most of my others, is based at least partly on a real experience. But in general my characters are collages of people I've met and experiences I've had. It's like this:  a person will intrigue you and stick with you and kind of grate at you and you feel a character start.  From there you're constantly adding layers and colors, a lot of the time without even realizing you're doing it—sort of like an oyster adding layers of nacre to a bit of sand that gets stuck in there.  And one day you have a pearl—a fully-formed character that you grew, yet exists completely apart from yourself.

Is your second-novel-in-progress on a similar theme?

The Price is also a supernatural thriller. And both books are about hauntings—haunted people in haunted places: The Harrowing is a haunted dorm, The Price is a haunted hospital.  They're very different stories and characters, and not the same kind of hauntings at all, but both involve protagonists who have to actively unravel the mystery of the place they're in and the people around them to combat the haunting. And both stories play with the line between psychological and supernatural explanations for what is happening.

Oh yes—and you'll definitely want to leave the lights on for both!

 

Reviews

No Nest for the Wicket
by Donna Andrews
Thomas Dunne
Hardcover, 288 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0312329407
Reviewed by Marlyn K. Beebe

This is the seventh book in the Meg Lanslow series, and it's pretty darned good.  The story begins with Meg playing extreme croquet out in the fields near the house that she and Michael purchased in Owls Well that Ends Well.  While she is rescuing a ball that has been croqueted by one of the other players, she stumbles upon a dead body.  The corpse's head was bashed in by something that may have been a croquet mallet.

Whose dead body it is, nobody knows.  There are dozens of people at the farmhouse:  the construction crew who is renovating the house, the five teams of players in the croquet tournament, as well as various and sundry of Meg's many relatives.  But when they are shown a picture of the dead woman, no one will admit to knowing her. 

Meg finds this hard to believe, and sets out first to learn who the victim was, and then who killed her.  It's not long before the identity of the murdered woman is discovered fairly quickly, but she was so unpleasant that there is no shortage of possible culprits.

Of course, with Meg's father and her brother Rob around, there are many twisted and confusing plots and plans to help with the investigation. 

This book is laugh-out-loud funny, and an absolute blast to read.   But what I want to know is, when are Meg and Michael going to get married? 

 

All Roads Lead to Murder: A Case From the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
by Albert A. Bell, Jr.
High Country Publishers, Ltd.
Hardcover, 246 pages, $21.95
ISBN: 097130453X
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

This mystery takes place in the ancient city of Smyrna in AD 83.  A group of travelers stop at a local inn to rest for the night and when they awake in the morning they find one of the travelers not only dead, but lying on his bed with his heart cut out of his body.  One of the travelers is Pliny, a Roman citizen on his way back to Rome after serving in a government position in Syria.  He takes charge of the situation and investigation while waiting for the governor to arrive.  His sidekick and new friend, Tacitus, helps him unravel the clues and solve the murder.

Bell does a great job of describing the life and times of the historic period, while still telling a story of murder that can keep the interest of someone in the 21st century.  He describes the time period and the lives of people of all classes of society, from the upper classes to their slaves.  He relates the events as they routinely occur in AD 83 and some of them are very barbaric, to say the least.  Bell's descriptions are not gratuitous, but simply informative.  Pliny himself is disturbed by the practices of Rome and refuses to follow the letter of Roman law when he doesn't feel it is just. 

The book is definitely a page-turner and a surprisingly easy read, especially considering its historic setting.  

 

Lifeless
by Mark Billingham
William Morrow
Hardcover, 400 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0060841664
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Tom Thorne has proved to be a maverick but talented London detective, skilled at capturing killers, in previous novels.  And he continues to show an unusual talent in this latest entry, again showing not only an unusual method for his work but incurring the wrath of his superiors.

Hardly recovered from the death of his father in what might have been an arson fire, following which he took some leave, Tom returns to work on the theory that keeping busy is better than wallowing in the misery of mourning.  The problem is his assignment is not to his liking, basically chaining him to a desk and burying him in paperwork and administrative tasks, rather than chasing the bad guys.  His "attitude" is taken note of and he is given a choice of taking some more "vacation" or "gardening" (where he is given make-work at a computer to find ways to attract ethnic minorities to the force, and more boredom).

While at the latest task a few gruesome murders of homeless people occur.  Tom is informally consulted when others are stumped by the lack of clues and information.  No one on the street is talking to the authorities.  Tom suggests going undercover on the streets to locate the killer.  And an exciting tale ensues full of excellent observations and insights.  In the process, Tom finds his way back, but not without danger to himself down to the exciting conclusion.

You won't be able to put this novel down.  It will keep you on the edge of your seat even down in the depths of the London underground.

Swimming With The Dead
by Kathy Brandt
Signet
Paperback, 258 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0451210204
Reviewed by Neil Plakcy

Hannah Sampson is a police officer in Denver and a rescue diver with a somewhat murky personal background. In Swimming With The Dead, the first in Kathy Brandt's "underwater investigations," she heads to the British Virgin Islands to investigate the death of the police commissioner's son.

Michael Duvall was an experienced diver—so how could he have drowned while diving the wreck of the Chikuzen, a container ship sunk off the island of Tortola?

At first, everyone wants Hannah to believe that Michael's death was a tragic accident.  But the deeper she delves, the more she discovers about the darkness lurking at the edges of paradise—drunkenness, prejudice, theft and natural disaster all play a part in the tropical ecosystem. As things get more dangerous, Hannah becomes convinced that Michael's death was no accident, and determined to find his killer.

Diving in the BVI opens a new world to Hannah, whose underwater experiences have only been cold and murky. Brandt's enthusiasm for the Caribbean, as well as her extensive knowledge of marine biology, is evident, and we see it all through Hannah's eyes, as she discovers not just what happened to Michael Duvall, but how beautiful and fragile the ocean environment is.

Interesting characters, rapturous descriptions, and a real sense of place characterize Swimming With The Dead. The plot moves along smoothly, letting the reader get to know Hannah as the mystery unravels, and by the end of the book, when Hannah decides to relocate to the BVI and work as a police diver, we're ready to follow her on to her next investigation.

As Dog Is My Witness
by Jeffrey Cohen
Bancroft Press
Paperback, 280 pages, $16.95
ISBN: 1890862436
Reviewed by Andrea Maloney

Aaron Tucker, a freelance journalist, is asked by a good friend to look into the murder of Michael Huston, whom it seems everyone loved.  The suspect in the case is Justin Fowler, a young man with Asperger Syndrome, who has confessed to the crime.  The gun used to commit the murder was also found in his house.  But Aaron's friend, Lori, founder of an AS support group, doesn't believe Justin is guilty no matter what the evidence shows.  And as Aaron starts to look into it he comes to believe in Justin's innocence too.

Along the way the mob shows an interest in Aaron's inquiries and asks him to step away.  When he refuses he finds himself with three very large "bodyguards" who come to play a key role in the investigation, even while providing a little help for Aaron's friend Mahoney.  Aaron finds help in his quest in the form of his son, Ethan, who also has Asperger Syndrome. And along the way Aaron questions a wide number of suspects including the wife of the murdered man, the brother of the suspect and members of the mob.

As if that wasn't enough to keep Aaron busy he has his hated brother-in-law and family coming for a visit, Mahoney's work is being sabotaged and Aaron has a screenplay that a production company wants to option once he makes a number of rewrites. Soon Aaron finds himself in over his head in matters of family, friends and business with a killer setting his (her?) sites on Aaron to make sure he never learns the truth about Michael Huston's murder.

Jeffrey Cohen has written another terrific installment in the Aaron Tucker series. Written with great wit, delightfully human characters and a plot that keeps you reading well into the night. Perhaps the greatest strength of this book is the wonderful characters who are full of life, love and heart.  The interactions between the characters are true to life, the story is chock full of laugh out loud humor and the plot of the mystery zips along hairpin twists and turns to a satisfying conclusion. As Dog Is My Witness is a delightful story in a series that I hope will be around for a long time to come.

 

47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers
by Troy Cook
Capital Crime Press
Paperback, 282 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 0977627667
Reviewed by Neil Plakcy

Tara Evans cried the first time she robbed a bank.  But she was only nine, so that shouldn't be held against her.

For thirteen years, Tara and her father Wiley have been robbing banks all across the South and Southwest. But Tara's a big girl now, and she's ready to fall in love—which is going to complicate her criminal career.

Wiley is full of rules about bank robbing. "Rule #17 said you should say something memorable during the heist and give the witnesses something to remember. The funnier and/or crazier the better." A fan of self-help books, Wiley is struggling to figure out how to deal with his daughter while preparing for the biggest heist of their career.

Troy Cook's 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers is filled with colorful characters like Wiley and Tara, including a veterinarian who treats injured crooks, a sheriff's son who's not above stealing a car to pursue a pretty girl, and a cast of criminals who make Jimmy Breslin's The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight look like geniuses.

Cook's background as a filmmaker—he has written and directed films—shows in the non-stop action, as the point of view jumps between cops and robbers, taking time out to develop the romance as well. It's light-hearted, fast-moving fare—a good summer read.

 

The Poet's Funeral
by John M. Daniel
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 257 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 159058144X
Reviewed by Andrea Maloney

At the annual convention of the American Booksellers Association, things just aren't going well. Julia Child's cooking demonstration goes up in flames, a top New York editor is attacked with a pie and invitations to an exclusive publisher's party are stolen and all the wrong people arrive turning the party into a free-for-all. 

As if that wasn't bad enough, the world-renowned poet Heidi Yamada is found dead on Elvis' king size bed.  All this is caught on film by a photographer for Publisher's Weekly, a mysterious woman who is soon kidnapped. The Las Vegas police don't seem motivated to look into the kidnapping or the death of Heidi.  As far as they are concerned Heidi's death was a suicide, case closed.

Guy Mallon, Heidi's first publisher (and former lover), feels obligated to do something about it. But what can he do? He's never wanted to be a PI and things go from bad to worse as he starts asking questions.  But finding out the truth may be the only way he is going to leave Las Vegas alive so that is what he sets out to do.

The Poet's Funeral is a brilliant spoof of the publishing world and a first-rate mystery story. Daniel skewers everything and everyone from collector's editions, crazy obsessed collectors , the pretentiousness of critics and the egotism of publishers and agents in their quest for the latest thing in writing.

Everyone had a reason to want Heidi dead. Daniel allows the characters to tell their own stories thru their eulogies of Heidi. Interspersed throughout the story, the eulogies add depth while giving the reader insight into each of the characters feelings about Heidi and motivation for her death.

Not only is The Poet's Funeral a funny look at the publishing world but it's also a well developed mystery with suspects galore, tight plot and a resolution tying up all the loose ends.  Daniel has written a story that will cause one to laugh out loud while enjoying a truly fascinating mystery story.

 

Scare the Light Away
by Vicki Delany
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 337 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590581415
Reviewed by June Harris

Rebecca McKenzie, successful Vancouver businesswomen, is going home to attend her mother's funeral. Home for Rebecca does not hold warm memories.  Thirty years ago she left behind a harsh childhood dominated by a cold and callous grandfather. She has cut herself off from her father, older sister, and brother, keeping in contact only by her mother's letters.

Rebecca arrives in the isolated small-town of Hope River accompanied by Sampson her dog. What was to be a short stay extends so she can find household help for her father. Meanwhile the town of Hope is agitated by the previous disappearance of a young girl.  Rebecca accidentally finds out some townspeople have some suspicions her older brother is involved.

Rebecca becomes obsessed with her mother's journals. The journals depict the day-to-day harsh realities of a war bride coping with a life in isolated Hope River. That life was far from her first eager expectations.

Vicky Delany manages to make real, the people who are living this story, the mother through the journals, her brother coping with the growing threats from the brother's of the missing girl. Delany makes Hope River real, easily recognized by those who have lived that small town life. The family relationships take surprising turns. The suspicions of her brother increase to a dangerous level that eventually threatens Rebecca and others.

One realizes after reading this book that Delany has woven three distinct threads, the evolution of family relationships, getting to know her mother as an individual, and a horrific crime into a suspenseful whole. I was caught from the opening paragraph to the last page. This debut novel has me looking forward to Vicki Delany's next book.

Recommended.

 

The Princess of Burundi
by Kjell Eriksson
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press
Hardcover, 300 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0312327676
Reviewed by Janet Koch

Little John is dead. Tortured, murdered, and left in the snow to be discovered by a passing jogger. The Swedish police are puzzled, for by all accounts, Little John had been a decent man. He and his brother, Lennart, were troublemakers in their youth, but Little John deviated from his brother's path and grew into an upstanding citizen. If it were Lennart's who had been murdered, the police would be busy with multiple suspects, but Little John? They shake their heads and begin what looks to be a long investigation.

Outside of the official police investigation, two others are searching for answer. Lennart, shaken into sobriety by his brother's death, vows to find the killer, and a policewoman on maternity leave can't leave well enough alone.

The trio of investigations weave around and through each other at a constantly accelerating pace, all three merging into a confrontation with the bloodiest of possibilities.

Kjell Eriksson lives in Uppsala, Sweden, the setting for The Princess of Burundi, and makes detailed use of its streets, neighborhoods, and culture. Eriksson builds characters with multilayered problems that have no easy or obvious solutions. The backdrop of a quickly approaching Christmastime adds elements of sentiment, nostalgia and the inevitable tensions.

The Princess of Burundi, a title explained in a startlingly matter-of-fact way, tells of how the tragedy of a good man's death can not only expose the secrets of many, but can also spawn further violence. In The Princess of Burundi, the law of unintended consequences might be the harshest law of all.

Baby Shark
by Robert Fate
Capital Crime Press
Trade paperback, 270 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 0977627691
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

For an initial effort, this novel is extremely well constructed and written.  The characters are well portrayed and the plot unusually effective. 

Baby Shark emerges from a truly awful experience:  As a 16-year-old, Kristin Van Dijk travels with her pool hall hustler father around Texas.  Both are unusual, in that they are well-read and reading whenever dad isn't playing nine ball for a living.  When she is 17, they find themselves in a pool hall owned by Henry Chin in West Abilene, which is invaded by bikers who kill three men while she watches, then wound Chin and rape her.  Then they burn down the establishment, leaving the two behind.

Chin is able to rescue Kristin from the fire, but his son is killed.  Chin takes Kristin home where she spends a year recovering after bouts of surgery and dental care as a result of the brutal beating inflicted on her during the assault.  He engages two war veterans to teach her how to shoot and martial arts to protect herself.

She begins practicing nine ball and decides to follow in her father's footsteps, thus earning the sobriquet, "Baby Shark."  And she becomes very proficient at the task.  Meanwhile Chin retains the services of a private eye to locate the four thugs responsible for the deaths of his son and Kristin's father, the destruction of his pool hall and, of course, the beating and rape of Kristin.

Revenge is the name of the rest of the story, as one after another is taken out, until only the leader is left in a wild and wooly finish.  Already the second in the series, Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues, is completed, and a third, Baby Shark's Sooner Weekends, is in the works.  Let's hope they live up to the expectations raised by Baby Shark's debut.

Recommended.

 

Blown Away
by Shane Gericke
Pinnacle Books
Paperback, 329 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0786018135
Reviewed by Suzanne Epstein

Set in Naperville, Illinois (where author Gericke lives), this debut thriller revolves around rookie police officer Emily Thompson and a serial killer who seems to know a lot about her life. As the story begins, Emily heads out on her regular morning run along the river. She comes across two beheaded ducks and a similarly executed goose. Later that day she is called to participate in the investigation of a woman found murdered in an automobile. Emily's business card was found in the victim's purse. When Emily returns home, she finds the heads of the three fowl in her mailbox, and her cards are in their beaks.

Interspersed with the present activity of the story are flashbacks to Emily's childhood and that of a classmate named Brady Kepp. It becomes obvious to the reader early on that Brady is a serial killer in training. Little by little, the interconnections of these two people are revealed, but the major enigma isn't revealed until late in the book: who is Brady Kepp today?

I'm not a big fan of serial killer books, primarily because the villain's motives and methods have meaning only for him, and his twisted view of the world and the people he targets defy conventional crime-solving techniques.  That being said, Gericke took on a very ambitious project, with lots of layers in both the killer's psyche and the life of Emily. While some of the logic seems rather far-fetched, I was able to suspend my disbelief enough to be drawn into the suspense. I was curious to see how it would all play out, although I was able to foresee many aspects of the story before they were explained in the book.

Gericke has created a complex, suspenseful thriller.

 

For Love And Money
by Leslie Glass
Ballantine Books
Paperback, 295 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0345447956
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

If you're looking for a good read with some unusual quirks, Leslie Glass' For Love And Money should be on your "to read" list.  Annie Custer is a stockbroker with a dysfunctional family.  One daughter insists she has a brain tumor that is killing her, the other daughter enjoys drawing on her body in her spare time and her husband has entered into a depressive state that leaves him unable to hold down a job or help around the house.  To top it off, her housekeeper is quitting to go back to South America to be with her family. 

Just when Annie thinks she can't take anymore, she agrees to help her best friend convince the friend's father to deposit the family stash of stock certificates at Annie's brokerage firm.  This seemingly simple favor leads to accusations of theft and betrayal, leaving Annie to take the fall.  Annie's boss not only isn't very concerned about the loss, but knowing Annie's marriage is failing, he continues to hit on her.

Annie's constant struggle with her family and the theft at work will make any reader's personal complaints seem trivial.  I found my own life seeming more normal with every page.  Did I mention that Annie's dead mother appears occasionally and talks to her about how Annie is screwing up in life?  Somehow Glass makes the apparition seem very commonplace in the chaos and just another bump in the road for Annie to deal with.

The characters are not only real and flawed, but quirky and likeable.  You don't have to believe in ghosts to enjoy this book.

 

Prisoner of Memory
by Denise Hamilton
Scribner
Hardcover, 379 pages,  $24
ISBN: 0743261944
Reviewed by Beth Anderson

Reporter Eve Diamond, while on a boring assignment checking out the whereabouts of a rogue mountain lion, happens on the body of a young male jogger who has been shot.  Taking a closer look, she spots a Soviet army watch on his wrist.  She soon discovers his parents are an old Russian family, emigrated to America many years ago, visits them, and is perplexed to find the father seems to recognize her, although he tries to conceal it. 

When Eve returns home she finds, literally on her doorstep, an unkempt, hungry man on a bicycle who swears he's her cousin from Russia and has photos and intimate family knowledge to prove it.  He tells her he's inadvertently on the run from the Russian Mafia, which paid to bring him here illegally, helped him get fake ID's, and now they want their money back.  Unfortunately, he's broke.  With serious misgivings, she lets him in to eat most of the food she has in her kitchen and sleep on her back porch, even though it's the middle of winter and temperatures in California can drop sharply at night.

Thus Eve finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation that, as layers begin to peel one by one, goes back many years into the past, when the US and Russia were involved in the Cold War.  Add in her current lover vs. a would-be lover who is also her partner, an FBI operative about to be retired, another FBI operative long retired—both of whom are inextricably linked to the Russian family of the corpse, and finally an angry Russian Mafia don, and you have a non-stop thriller of the highest degree.

This is my first book by Denise Hamilton and it won't be the last.  Her characters are so well developed and multi-layered that you begin to care about them from the first page and cannot put the book down no matter what else you have going on in your life. 

I loved Eve's quiet humor combined with the blind tenacity of a pit bull in heat, laughed long and hard at her hapless Russian cousin, who is hilarious and endearing, and the rest of the cast, both bad and good, are all fascinating and colorful.  For those who like a little sex with their mystery, let me just say that Hamilton has one whopper of an imagination re: her tryst locations.  Pass me the fan, please. 

Definitely a first-rate, entertaining while still dead serious, fast-reading thriller you don't want to miss.

A Shot to Die For
by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1590581857
Hardcover, 301 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Carl Brookins

The fourth Ellie Foreman adventure demonstrates that the author knows what she's doing.  One of the realities of life in traditional mysteries featuring protagonists who are not members of professional law enforcement, is that even cops don't deal with murder all that often.  There are, however, all sorts of amateur detectives who jump right in as the bodies fall all around.  Hellmann avoids that tired construct by placing her video producer, Ellie Foreman, in a variety of normal situations with abnormal consequences.  Keeps things fresh and interesting.

What's more, as in this case, Ellie Foreman doesn't just jump in when a woman sitting nearby at a highway rest stop is abruptly murdered at a distance from an unseen location.  That's intriguing enough, but Ellie wisely tells her story to the responding cops and leaves.  But then the slain woman's family tracks Ellie down and begs her to help find the killer.  Another death ensues and Foreman is drawn deeper into a different part of the scene where she is already legitimately producing a video for an upscale client.

The locale of the novel is the seriously upscale Lake Geneva resort area north of Chicago.  Long known for its history of attracting the wealthy and the questionable who have homes around the lake, a Playboy Nightclub, and of course, all those service personnel who are so necessary to the lifestyle of the rich and infamous.

The author nicely sets up an interesting mix of characters from high and low classes and the conflicts among them that sometimes arise.  But this is not Upstairs Downstairs, genteel and very British as that television series was.  This story is American to the core and Ellie Foreman soon finds herself knee-deep in family secrets, along with old and new animosities.  Tension rises gently but steadily though the pages and the mystery has some nice twists and turns.  As with all her novels, Hellmann has a good ear for dialogue and a finely focused eye for the settings of her books.

 

The Betrayed
by David Hosp
Warner Books
Hardcover, 419 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0446576956
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Sydney Chapin, daughter of wealthy, politically influential parents, has returned to Washington, D.C. after her second year of law school to work as a research assistant for a law professor at Georgetown University.  Though estranged from her patrician mother (her father having died five years prior), Sydney is attempting to reconnect with her older sister, Elizabeth, a Washington Post reporter and mother of a teenage daughter.  Three weeks after Sydney arrives back in town, her sister is brutally tortured and murdered.  More horrifyingly, Liz' daughter is the one who discovers the body.  Sydney is determined to discover the truth behind the crime.  She finds allies in Jack Cassian and Darius Train, the detectives assigned to the case, and they find that much more is involved than a 'simple' robbery, as first appears.

David Hosp, in his second novel (following Dark Harbor), here invades territory staked out by George Pelecanos, drawing a portrait of some of the mean but mostly privileged streets of Washington DC and its environs, into the realms of power, wealth and influence.  The novel is filled with suspense and very well-crafted, and the fact that a couple of the upcoming plot developments seemed apparent to this reader did not detract from the enjoyment of this fast-paced read. 

Recommended.

 

Copper River
by William Kent Krueger
Atria
Hardcover, 309 pages, $24.00
ISBN: 0743278402
Reviewed by Carl Brookins

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel I should report that Kent is a fellow member of the Minnesota Crime Wave, and the critique group I belong to, and we are friends.  Having said that, let me assure readers that this is a dynamite book, another in the fine Cork O'Connor series.  Those who have read Mercy Falls will naturally want to buy this book since it completes the arc that begins with the previous book.  Nevertheless, Copper River is complete within its own covers. 

But there is considerably more here.  O'Connor, wounded by a professional killer, goes to ground in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with distant relatives in a somewhat uncomfortable situation.  That's important to know because this book also explores some horrific circumstances that effectively demonstrate that our stereotypical view of bucolic small-town life is sometimes at serious odds with reality.

O'Connor, fearing for his family, has taken refuge with the widow of a man he once arrested.  While he heals he is drawn inexorably into the life of his nephew and the boy's interesting companions.  That life finally leads to the uncovering of crimes first revealed in one of the most moving opening scenes I have ever read in a novel in this or any genre.

Krueger is a fine writer and he knows how to build suspense while telling a good story.  But his real strength is in the characters he develops and their interactions.  But don't just take the word of this reviewer.  Pick up a copy and read the first page.  Just the first page.  Not the cover copy, or that on the flaps.  Just page one. Then decide.

A House Divided
by Deborah LeBlanc
Leisure Books
Paperback, 336 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0843957301
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Readers looking for a scary, fast paced horror book will love A House Divided.  The Devillier family home is a grand house. Unfortunately, it is also the scene of a terrible Devillier family tragedy. After the tragedy, the house remains empty until builder Keith Lafluer buys it and moves it into Windham.

Lafluer divides the house between two building lots, one rented by Matt and his son Seth, who turn it into Tin Cup Café and live in the apartment upstairs. The other house is rented by Laura, Tawana and Tawana's cousin Moweez. They turn their house into The Beauty Box and the three of them also live above their business.

It's not long after the café and beauty shop open, that strange occurrences begin.

Although she is like a child mentally, Moweez starts drawing very complex pictures depicting strange scenes involving the two houses and the people who live in them. Each of the drawings is increasingly violent and includes an hourglass showing time moving forward. At first, no one knows what to make of the pictures, but then the scenes Moweez draws begin to happen.

LeBlanc has all of the elements of a great horror story in this book. The house is haunted; the characters are possessed, second sighted or plagued by shadows of memories-of things not quite remembered.  The book, set in southern Louisiana, seems to ooze local color. The people are a blending of the various southern cultures and small town characters. The reader feels right at home with the diners eating at The Tin Cup Café and the women having their hair done at The Beauty Box. When the eerie happenings begin, the reader is right there seeing and feeling the events unfold.

This book is a fast read making it perfect for the beach or other summer reading. The suspense keeps the reader turning the pages and makes it hard for the reader to put the book down until the end.

Destroying Angels
by Gail Lukasik
Five Star
Hardcover, 294 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 1594143609
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

After several years of teaching in Chicago, Leigh Girard moves to Door County, Wisconsin and lives in a small town named Egg Harbor.  She is hired as a reporter for the local peninsula newspaper. Her first assignment is to interview the widow of a recently deceased resident.  The widow protests that her husband's death may have been doctor's error.  Then the town librarian dies.  Again, Leigh is commissioned to write another obit.  You must understand that obituary news is deemed important even though Leigh finds it a bit odd.  The author does an exemplary job of showing the townspeople as caring, interested and sometimes more than a little nosy. 

The characters are well drawn.  I especially like Lydia Crane, a nurse who befriends Leigh.  Will this be a series?  I hope so.  To revisit some of these Door County residents would be a pleasure.  Leigh's dog, Salinger, plays a major part of her transition.  She has left a lot of her life behind her in Chicago but does bring her vulnerability.  This flawed main character brings warmth and reality to the story.  Leigh battles her own fears of a past cancer and starting anew; she seems to be winning most days.  Surviving cancer patients will relate to the theme indicating survival and some natural fear.

I like Leigh's involvement in helping to find answers.  There are two current murders plus a 20-year-old death that may all tie together.  The author's descriptive ability of people and places is stellar.  Even though I figured out "who done it" early in the story, this is recommended reading.  I actually read this book in Door County, in the small town of Egg Harbor. 

Vanishing Point: A Sharon McCone Mystery
by Marcia Muller
Mysterious Press
Hardcover, 323 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0892968052
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In a book that explores the many facets and permutations of marriage, Sharon McCone and Hy Ripinsky, her long-time lover, have finally tied the knot. Although Sharon expresses herself as now having everything she's ever wanted, she finds herself unprepared for some of the changes her marriage threatens to bring, not all of them welcome. Theoretically, the marriage was not expected to change anything, but she is advised by a close friend to "wait and see."

Sharon's first case after the wedding forces a confrontation with some of the more unpleasant results of a marriage gone bad.  When she is hired by Jennifer Aldin to look into Jennifer's mother's disappearance over two decades earlier, what on the surface appeared to be an instance of a woman content with her life—a good mother, successful businesswoman, very involved in her community—is discovered to be anything but what it appears to be.  She has to consider the fact that the woman—loving wife, mother, and friend—had abandoned everyone she'd supposedly loved.  And then, in a manner eerily reminiscent of her mother 22 years previously, Jen disappears, the similarities between the two woman: "both talented, professional, reliable, a good friend, and by all appearances as having an excellent marriage," as well as the suddenness and completeness of their disappearances without a trace, lead Sharon to question whether the two events are not tied together.

Vanishing Point marks a welcome return of Sharon McCone and her extended family, friends and colleagues.  It is a gripping tale which examines the constraints that can be imposed by marriage.  A favorite series of this reader and Ms. Muller's many fans, it will undoubtedly soon appear on the bestseller lists, and deservedly so.

Recommended.

Dead Game
by Kirk Russell
Chronicle Books LLC
Hardcover, 368 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0811850781
Reviewed by Andrea Maloney

California Fish & Game warden John Marquez is on the hunt for poachers of sturgeon who catch these fish to harvest the fish eggs, also known as caviar.  Sturgeon are prized for their meat and eggs with sturgeon poaching being a lucrative operation. One night he receives a desperate phone call from one of his informants, Anna Burdovsky, and hears her being attacked.  Before he can come to her rescue she goes missing.  It turns out they may not have known her at all and Marquez's boss wants to shut down the operation right then but Marquez convinces him to wait three weeks.

Desperate to find her, Marquez and the rest of his team go undercover to track down the poachers and the people they are selling the poached sturgeon to in hopes they will lead them to Anna. The trail leads them to the Russian mafia who not only deal in caviar but in things much more dangerous like illegal arms selling and murder.

Soon Marquez faces dangers on all fronts when he receives word that his operation is going to be shut down due permanently due to a lack of funding, the FBI wants him to back down because he is encroaching on their investigation of the Russian mob and a pair of killers set their sites on him as a person of interest.

Dead Game is a intriguing crime novel that not only is a great story but also an education about the life of the Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the Department of Fish & Game in their quest to stop illegal poaching and save our endangered wildlife. Russell has taken a subject that some people might not find interesting and written a thrilling, deftly plotted, fast moving novel peopled with unforgettable characters and a breathtaking setting described in vivid detail.  Dead Game pulled me in from the very first page with a finely plotted story from a very knowledgeable writer.

Frostline
by Justin Scott
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 328 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590580621
Reviewed by Carl Brookins

Take a whole New England village of eccentric characters, brought vibrantly alive by the skill of the writer, add a world-renowned acerbic and arrogant diplomat.  Throw in a little seasoning from representatives of various governmental agencies at several levels and a bright, clever investigator and you've got another Ben Abbott mystery.

Abbott's day job is as a real estate agent.  It's an ideal career for a man who is as interested in his neighbors, particularly those who are female and attractive, as he is in putting deals together and selling houses.  Ben Abbott hopes to one day make it big in real estate, or make a single big deal so he can stop working altogether.  Abbott is ambivalent about his career, as he seems to be about many things.  He tends to view life and many of the characters he interacts with, with a certain degree of doubt if not outright suspicion.  He isn't shy about voicing his opinions.  This attitude keeps him in hot water with a corrupt local cop and seems to lose him female companionship just about as fast as he attracts them.

Breezy, quick and sunny, even when dealing with serious subjects, author Scott rips right along in this cracking good mystery.  It's a good story, well told, but it's the characters and the fresh voices that readers will groove to.  Ben Abbott is the sort of investigator you'd love to have living next door, especially if you're having trouble with an overbearing, arrogant neighbor who wants your land and is determined to get it by any means, legal or not.

 

Deceit
by James Siegel
Warner Books
Hardcover, 369 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0446531863
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

What's a discredited reporter supposed to do when he smells the story of a lifetime?  That's the dilemma facing Tom Valle, who was summarily dismissed (and almost prosecuted) from a prestigious New York newspaper for having fabricated over 50 stories.  A kind-hearted owner/editor in a small California town takes pity on Tom and gives him a job, albeit covering PTA meetings, mall openings, socials and the like.

One day, Tom suggests a story about the 50-year anniversary of a massive dam burst in a nearby town which obliterated it and apparently killed all residents save for a three-year-old girl.  The editor tells Tom his predecessor was working on the same idea before apparently going crazy three years before.

Then Tom witnesses a car accident involving two drivers whose identities, he discovers, do not check out.  Later he sees one of them almost by mistake, who turns out to be an actor paid $5,000 to "perform" at the accident site.  The other driver, identified by information in his wallet, is killed and burned beyond recognition.  Such identification says the driver was a white man; the doctor who performed the autopsy believes the dead man was black.  Then Tom finds the person with that name alive in his mother's home.

The series of coincidences and leads continue to mount, and the story speeds up until Tom unravels the mystery of the flood and its aftermath.  And he writes the story, but who would believe him?  And therein hangs the tale.

After a slow start and a lot of repetition, the novel picks up steam and begins to make a lot of sense toward the end.  It is an interesting concept and cleverly plotted.

 

Arizona Dreams: A David Mapstone Mystery
by Jon Talton
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 254 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590583183
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Ruthlessness engendered by the seemingly limitless Arizona real estate boom (and the fortunes being made by those engaged in any aspect of it) is the theme of this new book, the fourth in the David Mapstone mystery series, by Jon Talton.  The author makes clear his love of this part of the country and its natural beauty, and his heartbreak at its violation.  He has woven a story involving murder, blackmail and deals within deals. 

David Mapstone is a deputy sheriff in Phoenix, Arizona, having held that job for five years and then, making use of his Ph.D. in history, becoming a college history professor.  Now he has returned to Phoenix to reacquire his badge; as he says: "to work on old unsolved cases, using a historian's techniques to budge them, if not solve them."  His wife, Lindsey, also a Deputy Sheriff, calls him the History Shamus.  A former student arrives at his office one day asking for David's help—a letter left by her late father tells of a murder he says he committed 40 years earlier, and gives details of the burial site.  But the body discovered there is of recent vintage.  Then one of David's neighbors is found dead, murdered with an ice pick.  When a second man is found killed in the same manner, the investigation widens.  When a powerful local politician and his wife are implicated, the matter becomes a political hot potato, and David's job, at the very least, is threatened.

The author's descriptions of the Arizona heat had me all but perspiring.  As well, his message comes through loud and clear. Some of the dialogue did not ring true to me, and some of the writing was not as smooth as it might have been.  As well, one confrontational scene between David and Lindsay switches gears too quickly. But the story was an interesting one, and the mystery well plotted, albeit a bit convoluted at its resolution.

 

Just Murdered
by Elaine Viets
Signet
Paperback, 271 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451214927
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Helen Hawthorne is forced to take one-dead end job after another in order to pay the bills.  Barely earning minimum wage, she must dote on rich brides as she works as a clerk in a very pricey bridal shop in Florida. 

One specific mother of the bride, Kiki, puts her patience to the test and even threatens to have her fired from her job.  It doesn't come as a shock when Kiki is found dead on her daughter's wedding day.  The good news—there is no shortage of suspects.  The bad news—Helen is one of them.  

When the police inform Helen that she is prime suspect number one, instead of letting them pin the murder on her she decides to do a little digging on her own to try and solve the case. 

Viets creates great characters, each one of them quirky in their own way.  She is able to insert humor when you least expect it until you find yourself smiling as you read.  This book is second in her Dead-End Job Mystery series and at the end the author gives a hint of where Helen will be working next.  Very enjoyable and a quick, lighthearted read.

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
by Jacqueline Winspear
Henry Holt and Company
Hardcover, 336 pages, $24
ISBN: 0805078983
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The truth as seen in the eyes of an artist—depicting the horrors of the battlefield during World War I—is the subject of his masterpiece to be shown at an exhibition in 1931.  On the eve of the showing, while preparing to mount the work, the artist, Nick Bassington-Hope, falls from the scaffolding, breaking his neck.  His twin sister isn't convinced the death was an accident and retains the services of Maisie Dobbs to investigate.

Nothing is simple, and the outcome of the inquiry is far from expected.  Maisie is an unusual person, having served as a nurse on the battlefield, becoming a psychologist and investigator.  This is the fourth Maisie Dobbs novel, in which she meticulously and often intuitively slogs on to solve the mystery.  She shows rare insights coupled with meticulous reasoning—a (relatively) modern female Sherlock Holmes.

Often the novel overwhelms the reader with detail, but that is Miss Dobbs' forte and raison d'etre. The characterizations are well-drawn and the story unusual. An excellent read.

 

Murder by Committee

Read past installments and find out more about Murder By Committee

Chapter 27
by Naomi Hirahara
(in tribute to Ross MacDonald and John Shannon)

Naomi Hirahara is the author of the Mas Arai mystery series, featuring a Japanese American gardener and atomic-bomb survivor. The third in the series, Snakeskin Shamisen, was released by Bantam Dell this year.  She blogs with six other writers on www.murderati.com.  For more information on her fiction and nonfiction books, see her web site www.naomihirahara.com.

Junior was dying and Thomas knew that he couldn't do anything about it.

Thomas had carried his younger brother's limp body into the cleanest hut, the one occupied by the yakuza.  Thomas had told Father Joe that they needed a doctor in the Community, but Father had insisted that the plants on the island could sustain them.  But no plants would be able to heal gunshot wounds.

"I take two—ah, ni, out."  The senior yakuza flashed two bloody fingers. He was a former tattoo artist and had used his needles to remove less than half of the bullets from inside Junior. "Three still in."

Although the two men were both Asian, English was their only common language.  Since Thomas had come to America when he was eight, his command of the English was much better.  "Son of a bitch," he said.  He grasped onto his brother's left hand, the one that had been damaged since birth.  Its pitiful shape, bent and curled up like a piece of cooked shrimp, comforted Thomas.  This was the hand he hung onto when they traveled across the Pacific Ocean in a fishing boat.  The hand he clung onto when they arrived at their host family's home in Minnesota. The hand he grasped during prayer sessions at Father Joe's church.

We will never let this happen again to anyone, Father had said about Junior's hand.  We must beat these people at their own game.  New weapons to destroy old ones.

The banana leaves covering the entrance of the hut rustled.  Father Joe stood with a bottle of oil.  "I've come to say a prayer over Junior," he said.

"Why did you send him?  You knew he wasn't ready."

"I couldn't stop him."  Father Joe's voice was flat and emotionless.  "He was intent on getting the chips.  He wanted to be part of the team.  To contribute to the Community."

"What Community?" Thomas yelled.  He didn't care that the senior yakuza was still in the hut.  "What do these people have to do with us?"  The yakuza.  Italian mafia.  Gangs from Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.  Father Joe called it a new United Nations, criminals of every color and religion.  The fatherless to rule over those with fathers.

"You don't understand, Thomas.  Junior's good works are a blessing.  They will live on far beyond his earthy life."

"You brainwashed him.  You know he couldn't think straight sometimes."

"You underestimate your brother.  Agent Orange may have damaged his hand, but not his mind.  He himself told me that you never gave him enough credit."

"You lie.  You're a damn liar."

"That's why he came to me.  To assert his independence.  What he did was in response to your overparenting.  He was a grown man, after all."

"I don't believe you."

"Think what you want to think.  Now, let me proceed with my prayer.  You'll have to leave the hut."

"Why?"

"Now, Thomas, I'll need you to leave now."  In the darkness of the hut Thomas could only see the outline of Father's bony cheekbones.

"No."

"Heart beating very, very slow," the yakuza announced, his red fingers pressed against Junior's right wrist.

"We have no time to waste."  Father Joe gestured to the yakuza and Thomas felt himself being pushed to the ground and restrained.  More men entered the hut and when Thomas looked up, he saw Father with a large fishing knife above Junior's chest.