January 2005

Welcome to 2005 at the Morgue (not that 2005 looks any different than 1865 when you're... well, you know)!

We're kicking off the new year with some terrific book reviews and features: you'll find titles here from M.J. Rose, Maddy Hunter, Cynthia Webb and Steve Brewer, among a good number of others.

This month's "How I Write" is by the celebrated author/journalist Laura Lippman, whose newest Tess Monaghan novel is By A Spider's Thread. The Baltimore resident talks about her method and her mood, and it's fascinating.

Rhys Bowen, whose Evan Evans and Molly Murphy series are more popular than ever, is the subject of this month's Mystery Morgue Interview, and her opinions on series writing, sense of place and character development should be on any mystery writer's—or readers—must-read pile.

For January's installment of our serial mystery Murder By Committee, Chester D. Campbell picks up the tale and spins it around, giving it some clever repartee, a few plot developments and a cliffhanger ending next month's author will find hard to beat.

So enjoy your visit, open a drawer and dive in! At the Morgue, you're always welcome to wallow in a little murder, no matter what year it is!

In this month's issue:

How I Write, by Laura Lippman
The Mystery Morgue Interview: Rhys Bowen

Reviews:
Dead Canaries Don't Sing by Cynthia Baxter
Bullets by Steve Brewer
It Had To Be You by Jill Churchill
Mistletoe And Murder by Carola Dunn
Murder At Cleaver Stadium by Douglas Lee Gibboney
Swallow The Hook by S.W. Hubbard
Pasta Imperfect by Maddy Hunter
Toasting Tina by Evan Marshall
Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief by Bill Mason, et al
Blue Blood by Susan McBride
Invisible by Lorena McCourtney
Duck Blood Soup by Joseph Molea, M.D.
The Halo Effect by M.J. Rose
The Mask Of Red Death by Harold Schechter
The Past Is Never Dead by David Schulman
The Color Of Emptiness by Cynthia Webb

Ongoing Story:
"Murder By Committee," Chapter 10, by Chester D. Campbell

Link to Archives

 

How I Write
by Laura Lippman

This month, Mystery Morgue has its first essay written by a former captain of a high school "It's Academic" team (at least, we're pretty sure it's the first). Laura Lippman, an almost-lifelong Baltimore resident and author of a number of celebrated mystery novels.

And what novels they've been! The Tess Monaghan series (whose latest is By A Spider's Thread) has gained great popularity and won numerous awards, and last year's breakthrough standalone, Every Secret Thing, won the Anthony and Barry Awards.

For years, Lippman maintained her career as a journalist at the Baltimore Sun and gained a great following with her novels. She's been profiled by the New York Times, and now, to cap it all off, tells us how she does it here on Mystery Morgue.

And by the way, the "It's Academic" team won. You can look it up.

Before I share the details of my writing day, I'd like to defend the eternal interest in this question, which has been mocked by some critics and writers. Having just seen "Kinsey," I feel that writing is not unlike sex in the 1950s—we all yearn for a baseline to find out how normal or abnormal we might be when it comes to this activity.

I'm a morning person and a morning writer. I used to write at home, which meant that I often greeted noon in my pajamas, which made me feel a little gross. Several factors persuaded me to start leaving the house to write. One, I got a little stir-crazy in the winter of 2003 in the wake of a huge blizzard. Two, I was a reporter for many years and I like the buzz of having people around, particularly if I'm allowed to ignore them. And, three, I began to see how the at-home writer was constantly exposed to various sources of procrastination—laundry, the telephone, e-mail. In my neighborhood coffee shop, there's nothing to do but write.

So I set out, preferably by 8 a.m., my laptop snug in what I've been promised is the BMW of laptop backpacks, a status that interests me only because it's likely that my previous laptop self-destructed after years of bouncing around in what can only be described as the Ford Pinto of backpacks. The goal is to write a minimum of 1,000 words. Some days, I write up to 3,000. Other days, that 1,000-word mark is hard to hit. It averages out to 7,500 words per five working days, or 30,000 words per month, which means I should have a draft within three months. But it's an extremely rough draft, despite some preliminary planning.

I then rewrite and rewrite and rewrite up until deadline, which falls on Oct. 1st. I don't believe in busting deadlines and, so far, I haven't. Along the way, no one sees what I'm doing, which is a bit of a high-wire act. (I do, however, submit an editorial letter and 30-40 pages, in order to get part of my advance.)

After I submit the book, I have a long, Socratic discussion with my editor, Carrie Feron, who has edited all 10 of my books. She asks a lot of questions, but makes no demands. But she trusts me and I trust her, so if something bothers her, I pay attention. Same with my agent, Vicky Bijur. I take the book back and revise for a month or so. This usually takes me into December, so I have a few weeks of downtime.

On the first Monday of January, it starts again.

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Rhys Bowen

Born and raised in England, while summering in Wales, now living in San Francisco, Rhys Bowen began her career writing dramas for the BBC, then moved briefly to Australia, where she met her husband. Having grown up with stories of Wales told by relatives (and some of her own from the childhood summers spent there), Rhys began writing mysteries—after forays into children's and young adult writing—by starting the Constable Evan Evans series, which continues to this day. She's also successfully launched the Molly Murphy series, which takes place in turn-of-the-(20th)-century New York.

In this interview, Bowen explains why she enjoys writing series, why she thinks they eventually have to end, but not yet, and how having a strong sense of place is essential to her work.

You have two successful mystery series, the Molly Murphy and Evan Evans series. Do you find writing series more comfortable, or more enjoyable, than standalones?

There are pros and cons to writing series. The good part is that I get to know your characters really well. It is fun to watch them develop, change, grow. Rather like an ongoing and deepening friendship. It is comforting to revisit the same locale with each book and of course I start each book with a lot of stuff I already know and don't have to make up.

The down side is that I am stuck with my series. I have book deadlines stretching into the future. If I come up with a great idea that won't fit into Wales or historic NY, then I have to file it in my ideas drawer for later. When I can get to it, the fire and enthusiasm for that idea will probably have died.

Like most writers I do dream of writing that big stand-alone one day. I just haven't found that one perfect theme yet.

Your background certainly plays a part in your work. How does Wales play a role in your mystery writing, and what is it about that country that you think makes it fascinating to you and your readers?

I decided to write about Wales after telling a friend some amusing anecdotes about things that went on in my aunt's village when I was a child—the mailman who read all the mail for example. This made me realize that Wales has a unique feel to it. It is, of course, a separate country, even though it's part of UK. The people speak another language and have different customs, plus a great sense of humor. I wanted to bring out these things in my books.

It was easy for me to set my story in a place I knew well. And now I have a good excuse for frequent visits.

You're a multiple award-winner. Beyond being a welcome acknowledgment of your work, does that change the way the books are marketed, or how you promote them? What do awards mean to your writing?

Outside of the mystery community the awards mean very little. Sometimes people will notice the words "Agatha Winner" on the cover and be impressed, because they've heard of Agatha Christie. I wish I could say it meant an extra million dollars per book, but that just isn't true. My publisher has finally noticed I exist and is putting a little muscle into promoting me these days, but certainly not treating me like Sue Grafton. I think publishers have found that awards rarely translate into a huge jump in sales. But as the Master Card commercial says, "Knowing you have the respect of your peers—priceless!"

Having written a good number of books, you're showing no signs of slowing down. Is it hard to come up with the next idea, or do you have a stockpile that you can draw from?

So far ideas have not been a problem for me. I have a lot more things I'd like Molly to tackle. I have at least a couple more Evan ideas I'd like to write. If I get to the stage when I can't think of anything exciting for Evan to do, I'll stop that series. I'm already up to book 9 and I think series are finite. It's titles now that are becoming a problem with Evan. I've used most of the good puns.

How did you start writing mysteries? What drew you to the form and how did your first attempt fare?

I came to mysteries as a mystery fan. I wrote what I wanted to read. But I came to them within the last ten years, after a lifetime of writing other things. I had a former successful career writing YA novels, also adult historical romances and even some brushes with TV. So writing mysteries was my treat to myself. I had to start from square one again and of course accept a considerably smaller advance. But my first attempt was bid on by two publishers and got great reviews, so I can't complain.

Aside from being, um, shorter, how do short stories differ from full-length novels?

Short stories are hard to write well. The writer has to bring a whole world to life in a few pages. The character has to be a real person, not a cardboard cutout. Knowing where to start and where to finish is critical—so they take a lot of work for a few words. I like writing them because they sharpen my skills as a novelist. Also my novels are perceived to be on the cozy side, so it's great to tackle really dark subjects in my short stories. I was thrilled to win an Anthony for a really bleak story about Nazi Germany.

Do you think that your background in the drama department at the BBC helped you to understand the form of storytelling? What did you take from that experience that helped you when you started writing?

I started my career in radio drama and my first writing for which I was paid were radio plays. Coming from a background in theater, radio, TV has really shaped the way I write. I write as a series of scenes, like a play. I imagine myself standing behind the curtain, watching the events unfold. I think this gives an immediate feel to my writing. Also starting out with just the spoken word has made dialog an important part of my books. I'll often read scenes out loud to make sure the dialog doesn't sound false and flows at a realistic rate.

You've covered many areas of writing, from children's picture books to young adult novels and mysteries. Do you find mystery writing the most satisfying, or do you like to jump back-and-forth to keep your imagination stimulated?

I find mystery writing immensely satisfying, in fact I wish I'd turned to it years ago. Now I don't know I'll have the chance to write everything I want to during my lifetime! I stopped writing YA books because I felt I'd said everything there was to say. My former editors keep bugging me to write for them again, but I keep saying no. To me a good mystery novel is equivalent to any good literary novel. It's just a literary novel with a purpose. What could be more pertinent to the human condition that the effects of a murder on those surrounding it?

You say you've written about Wales rather than San Francisco, where you live, because "too many books had been written about San Francisco." Do you think you'll write about California at some point, seeing it through the eyes of someone who was born in England?

I'll never say never, of course, but right now I have no plans for a California based book. I once thought about writing about Hollywood in the Twenties, but who could write about San Francisco where there has already been a Sam Spade?

You're really not Meg Chittenden, are you?

Sometimes we're not sure. We may need therapy.

 

Reviews

Dead Canaries Don't Sing
by Cynthia Baxter
Bantam Dell
Paperback, 371 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0553586416
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Veterinarian Dr. Jessica Popper heads off to a house call to a local horse farm. Her two dogs take off into the woods and are soon barking. When she goes to investigate, she finds they have discovered a half buried corpse.

Jessica feels compelled to discover who killed Tommee Frack, a PR mogul. She enlists the aid of her on-again off-again boyfriend Nick Burby, P.I.

At Tommee Frack's funeral, Jessica ends up befriending his ex-wife. This opens the door for her to talk about Tommee. Jessica being a veterinarian opens the door with many other people in Tommee's life. She is able to find out quite a bit about his personal and business life by talking to these people.

To complicate Jessica's personal life, she begins dating a policeman. Where does her heart lie? She is very confused and this complicates her investigation as well.

Jessica's neighbor and good friend Betty is threatened. Jessica is concerned she is being followed, but can never get any information on the vehicle to have it traced. She doesn't let any of this stop her in her quest for the truth. Will she be able to discover that truth without anyone else being hurt or killed, herself included?

I really enjoyed this book. Jessica is a terrific character. I like the premise of her being a traveling veterinarian. The author did a great job of weaving this into the story and making her connections with people be more believable.

I hope there will be many books in this series. I highly recommend it.

 

Bullets
by Steve Brewer
Intrigue Press
Hardcover, 299 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1890768502
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Lily had killed before. Max Vernon was a big winner at the casino. He thought he was going to receive a surprise from this hooker named Lily; the surprise was that she killed him. Joe Riley also won a large amount of money at the casino and had to protect his winnings from the two losers. When he flashed Lily's picture, the people he contacted did not realize he was a former Chicago cop who would utilize every skill he had learned in his profession to do what he needed to do. Lily had changed his life and now he wanted to right the wrong she had done. Two years prior, Joe Riley had been implicated in a Chicago murder. At the time, Joe owed a huge amount of money to a loan shark. When the shark was killed, the guilty fingers pointed to Joe. Max's murder had all the earmarks of the same killer.

Who was Lily? She was a contract killer for many years. Keeping her identity concealed for a long time, she had taken care of hits in several towns. When she snuffed out Max Vernon, his twin brothers became involved. big cowboy types with their primary mission being to find Lily and give her the same as she had given. The brothers were aware of their sibling's appetite for call girls, gambling and sex. They guessed who had him killed.

Max's murder occurred in a Las Vegas hotel and Ken, the owner, decided to hire his own safeguard. Maybe Mel Loomis would solve some problems so the negative publicity would cease. Strongly encouraged by Ken's wife, Mel becomes one of the many people looking for Lily. When Mel muscles people to obtain the answers he need, the action continues to escalate.

Most of the story involves the hunt for Lily. The strength of this story is Brewer's characters and his humor. They all have intense but various reasons to find her. This is a great cast; I could not read about them quickly enough. Mookie and Delbert are priceless. These two buffoons try to rid the world of Joe Riley, but they just keep falling on roadblock after roadblock. They become battered in the process and are definitely two people that this reader can easily visualize.

The short, crisp chapters and the humor add to the enjoyment of this. Normally, I would not have anticipated humorous scenes and dialog from the story line of contract killing, but I have read Steve Brewer before, so I was not surprised. Brewer also does a good job with the quirky relationship that exists between Lily and Joe.

 

It Had To Be You
by Jill Churchill
William Morrow
Hardcover, 219 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0060528435
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

It's 1933. Lily and her brother Robert not only take in boarders at their B&B Grace and Favor, but they also take on jobs now and then. Miss Twibell who runs a local nursing home has hired them while her assistant nurse is out sick.

There are many colorful characters in the home. One old man, Sean Connor, is the only seriously ill patient. He is also very hard to deal with. He slips into a coma and passes away. No one was surprised by his death as he was very ill. That is, until it is discovered he was murdered.

Then a body surfaces when the spring arrives and melts the ice. Could this be the young mad who had disappeared last winter? Or has a third crime been committed?

Motives for Mr. Connor's death are not as abundant as suspects, so it takes a lot of detecting and interviewing for it to be discovered and the guilty party caught.

I love this series. Lily and Robert are terrific. This is one of the few series set back in time that I enjoy so thoroughly. Jill Churchill has done a wonderful job creating these characters and the setting. The other people in town are also great characters in this series. They are all so well crafted. Her books are so easy to read, and you don't want to put them down.

I highly recommend this book. The Grace and Favor series is not to be missed.

 

Mistletoe and Murder
by Carola Dunn
Kensington
Paperback, 252 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0758204892
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

This book is set in London in 1923. Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher and family are to gather for Christmas at Brockdene, Lord Westmoor's estate in Cornwell, with her mother dowager Viscountess Dalrymple. Daisy arrives ahead to get some information for an article she is writing on Brockdene.

Once Daisy arrives, she finds that not only will Lord Westmoor not be joining them, they will be joined by The Norvilles, some poor relations who live there. Daisy soon realizes that the Norvilles are mostly unhappy people. Susannah Norville, the family matriarch, arrived at the estate many years ago to find out her husband Albert had drowned and his family would not accept her word that they had been married. So her sons were not given their birthrights as earls. Her son Captain Norville has arrived with Reverand Calloway. Daisy doesn't know immediately what the purpose of his visit is. Then he is found murdered in the chapel.

Daisy's husband, Alec, didn't want anyone to know he was a Scotland Yard Inspector. But once the local police are contacted and it is soon apparent Scotland Yard will be called in, he has to step up and run the investigation. He calls for his team to come assist him.

Alec's young daughter, Belinda, and her cousin Derek, have been enjoying investigating the house. Many desks are supposed to have hidden compartments. They discover some of them and then find some valuable clues for the investigation.

I found Daisy, Alec, Belinda and Derek to be very entertaining characters. I think they really made this story. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book to be a very enjoyable read. I recommend this book.

 

Murder at Cleaver Stadium
by Douglas Lee Gibboney
Xlibris
Paperback, 244 pages, $9.95
ISBN: 073882951X
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Things aren't going so well for lobbyist James Peters. First his wife leaves, and now his partner Woodrow Wilson Cox goes missing while they're at Ben State University for a weekend. James is the police's prime suspect. An attractive TV reporter covering his partner's disappearance begins to pursue James through all of this.

James' business isn't going very well and he has unhappy mobsters to deal with, as well as a corrupt state senator. Can things get any worse? Yes, but you'll have to read the book to find out what happens and how he deals with it.

This is a great book. I enjoyed it. It has lots of twists and turns and plenty of humor as well. The author has done a great job constructing an enjoyable mystery and the characters are wonderful too. You really feel what James is going through. I hope there will be more books in this series. I recommend it.

 

Swallow the Hook
by S.W. Hubbard
Pocket Books
Paperback, 322 pages, $6.50
ISBN: 0743467582
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Frank Bennett is Chief of Police in Trout Run, Arkansas. He mishandled a case in Kansas, and took this job thinking it would be quiet. His wife is no longer alive and he's not close to his married daughter. Now, he has another murder on his hands to investigate.

Mary Pat Sheehan, 28, lived with her parents and didn't date. She is found dead in her car parked on the side of the road. Everyone is shocked when they find out she was had been pregnant and died from complications while giving birth. As Frank investigates, he comes across information about black market adoption scams. Apparently Mary gave her baby girl to a shady adoption agency. No one knows where the baby is now. Frank is determined to find that out and make sure she is safe. Plus he wants to prevent other girls from being taken in by these people and having their lives and the lives of their babies put into danger.

Frank finds that sometimes it is an advantage to live in a town where everyone knows everyone else and sometimes it isn't.

The leader of Green Tomorrow, a radical environmental group, is murdered while in town. Many women of the community are members of this group and cause some problems with their protests.

Frank Bennett is a terrific character. I like the way he handles cases. Trout Run is a place I'd want to visit. Hubbard's descriptions are so well written that I feel that I've been there with each book in this series. I like how she intertwines the two story lines as well. Very well done. I highly recommend this book.

 

Pasta Imperfect
by Maddy Hunter
Pocket
Paperback, 285 pages, $6.50
ISBN: 0743482913
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Emily Andrew is at it again: as an escort on a trip to Italy, she is with a group of senior citizens from Iowa. Even Emily's mother has come along, much to her grandmother's chagrin. They have joined a group of highly competitive aspiring romance writers.

First Emily's luggage is lost. When the aspiring writers start falling like flies wearing Emily's clothes, Emily begins to investigate what the connection is and who is killing everyone. Is it another aspiring author who doesn't want the competition? Is it someone else on the tour with a hidden agenda she hasn't discovered yet?

With the help of her now-transgendered ex-husband, she begins to get to the bottom of things. Her mother is one of the judges of the contest and she is worried for her safety as well. Her grandmother, a whiz on the Internet, does some research for her and assists Emily with the investigation.

Emily is also talking long distance to her Scotland boyfriend, Inspector Etienne, for assistance with this case. He was recently injured and unfortunately can't remember the important question he wanted to ask her. Between all the static and his memory loss, it makes for amusing conversations.

This is a terrific series. Emily and her tour group will keep you laughing, and out loud, too. I always enjoy this series. The fact that every book is set in a different wonderful destination is one reason. The other is that there are so many hilarious things that happen as well as plenty of bodies turn up on each tour. The characters in her stories are so well crafted and really add to the story. I especially enjoyed the aspiring writers and the published writers who were supposed to impart some of their wisdom. She really had down the relationships between everyone involved. I highly recommend this book.

 

Toasting Tina
by Evan Marshall
Kensington
Hardcover, 211 pages, $22
ISBN: 0758202261
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Jane Stuart, literary agent, meets with her client Nate Barre and Tina Vale, publisher of Corsair Books. Unfortunately Tina wants to make Jane pay. She chooses to do it by canceling Nate's million-dollar contract. Apparently, Jane's deceased husband was Tina's lover before they married. Jane never knew about it; Tina never got over it.

Tina is in town to get an award at the Romance Authors Together (RAT) convention. Tina fails to show up and is found dead in her bath. It appears she committed suicide, electrocuted with one of her prized antique toasters. A note is found.

Jane does not believe Tina committed suicide. The police finally acknowledge that it appears to have been murder. Bad part: Jane is one of the suspects.

Fearing this would ruin her business reputation, she decides to try to find the killer before word gets out that she's a suspect. She enlists her assistant, Daniel. They begin interviewing the various parties.

This is the first book I've read in this delightful series. It definitely won't be the last. They have a new fan.

Jane is a likeable character. She is the type of person you would want to get to know, able to stumble onto information in a believable manner. Her literary contacts really helped in this story. Her relationships with the other characters were well written and believable.

I highly recommend this book.

 

Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief
by Bill Mason with Lee Gruenfeld
Villard Press
Hardcover, 365 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0375508392
Reviewed by Kevin S. Lowery

Intrigue. Isn't that why we go to see the James Bond, 007 films? Throw in a bit of suspense and a dash of danger and voila! Suddenly the plot for the next blockbuster film emerges.

Bill Mason's book, Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief, is nothing like that. It's much better. Picking it up is one thing; putting it down is another. Confessions is a chocolate torte of thievery and its bitter consequences that you will devour though you know it is bad for you. Mr. Mason recounts his decades of snatching baubles and bills from the unsuspecting creme de la creme of high society and celebrities including Robert Goulet, Phyllis Diller (twice), Bob Hope, Truman Capote, Margaux Hemingway and Johnny Weissmuller.

Mason's reason for committing these offenses had nothing to do with amassing riches, but rather an uncontrollable impulse that drove him from one job to the next. (Don't they have a twelve-step program for this?) Confessions is aptly named. In these pages, Mason reveals himself (now in the clear due to the statute of limitations and a stint in jail) as the culprit of many unsolved heists for the first time.

The book is well organized and conceived. The opening chapter draws you into the middle of one of Mason's most thrilling heists. But he doesn't let the subsequent narrative drag, keeping the tension of each burglary as taunt as the rope on which he slinks downward toward his next victim.

Very little time is spent by Mr. Mason trying to make excuses for the way he is (was,) either. Nor does he try to dig up things in his childhood to rationalize the impunity of his actions. What emerges is a picture of a man who is cunning, intelligent, sly and lovable—proving that even a well-known cat burglar like Mr. Mason can have a multi-faceted personality. It's an odd combination, but it works. Besides, people have wanted men like Mr. Mason to come out on top since before the days of "To Catch a Thief."

Mr. Mason's voice is easily recognizable throughout, as is Mr. Gruenfeld's editing. Sometimes the actual plot was disjointed and jumped ahead of itself. This broke the flow the narrative and occasionally made the story's sequence of events difficult to follow. But, overall, it was an enjoyable, easy and satisfactory read. Oh, that some fiction was as entertaining and well written as this!

In other collaborations like this one, sometimes you can sense in the work that storyteller and editor are working at cross-purposes. This causes an imbalance wherein the storyteller's voice is compromised or the editing is insufficient. (Curbing my instinct to reach for my editorial red pen.) In Confessions, I didn't sense any of that disharmony between the collaborators, thereby creating a unique balance between the two, which is rarely achieved in a work of non-fiction.

So, if you're in the mood to read a spine-tingling thriller, try Robert Ludlum. But if you're in the market for the real thing then be a Saint and steal away to your nearest bookstore.

Note: Mr. Mason is distributing a portion of the proceeds from the sales of this book to victim compensation organizations in Ohio and Florida.

 

Blue Blood
by Susan McBride
Avon
Paperback, 352 pages, $6.50
ISBN: 0060563893
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Andy Kendrick receives a desperate call from Molly O'Brien, whom she has not seen or heard from for 10 years. Molly is being charged with murdering her boss, Bud Hartman. She asks Andy to help her out. Andy gets her mother Cissy, much to her chagrin, to call a lawyer for Molly. Andy ends up dropping off Molly's six-year-old son David at Cissy's doorstep while she tries to help get Molly out of jail.

Brian Malone does not impress Andy as a go-getter attorney. So, Andy decides to go under cover as a waitress at Jugs, a Hooters-type restaurant, where Molly had worked. For some reason Julie, Bud's girlfriend who now runs Jugs, takes a liking to Andy.

Where is this waitress that left overnight a few weeks before? Why did she leave and never even return for her paycheck?

Andy finds herself in some interesting and even dangerous situations as she tries to discover who really killed Bud and framed Molly.

This is the first book I've read in this series, but it won't be the last. I truly enjoyed Andy and her antics. I think she and Malone will make a good team in future books. They feed off each other really well. Her mother really adds character to the story as well. I found myself laughing out loud several times while reading this book. I highly recommend it.

 

Invisible
by Lorena McCourtney
Revell
Paperback, 320 pages $12.99
ISBN: 0800759532
Reviewed by Barbara F. Thompson

Ivy Malone's best friend Thea has become extremely upset upon discovering the tombstones of her Aunt Maude and Uncle Romer vandalized along with many others in the Country Peace Cemetery. Vowing to have something done Ivy and Thea immediately drive to the Madison police department to file a formal complaint. The next morning Ivy stops by Thea's house to check on her. Ivy discovers Thea in bed, dead of an apparent heart attack.

Vowing to avenge the death of her best friend, Ivy decides to start camping out at night in the cemetery to catch the vandals red-handed. After several nights without seeing anyone Ivy becomes discouraged with lack of clues and interest by the police. Lost without her best friend and lack of cooperation from the police, Ivy suddenly feels like she has become invisible to everyone around her. At first alarmed that waitresses, bank tellers, and other towns folk seemed to not see her, she suddenly realizes what a great advantage being invisible is to an elderly woman who likes to snoop around.

When Ivy starts investigating the background of a mysterious local woman named Kendra, she suddenly finds her own life in danger. As Ivy bumbles around trying to discover who is vandalizing the cemetery and what has happened to Kendra, she finds herself getting into one funny situation after another.

Funny, eccentric, and spry for an elderly, retired librarian, readers cannot help but laugh at the constant fixes Ivy Malone gets herself into. Lorena McCourtney has written short stories and romance novels. Intent on getting back to her Christian roots, she started a series of Christian romance novels. Switching from romance to mystery, Invisible is the first book in her new Ivy Malone series. In Plain Sight, the second book is due out in 2005.

 

Duck Blood Soup: The Shocking Story of a Real Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
by Joseph Molea, M.D.
Mystery and Suspense Press (iUniverse)
Trade paperback, 218 Pages, $16.95
ISBN: 0595218431
Reviewed by Kevin R. Tipple

Addiction is an insidious disease which begins with the first pill, the first drink, the first whatever. It builds and it builds, taking over a person who soon becomes a slave to the addiction. Living for the addiction created within until death or intervention breaks the cycle. And even for those addicted that because of their training should know better, they are often just as powerless to stop their own addiction as the drug addict living beneath the bridge. They just use a better class of drugs.

For Dr. Rocky VanSlyke, resident of All Saints Hospital in Philadelphia, waking up after a seizure caused by drug use should have done the trick. But it didn't and his slide continues further into the nightmarish world of prescription drug addiction. His methods of choice being Demerol and Percocet. As he begins to lose control over both his personal life and his professional life, the reader is repeatedly taken back in time to his early childhood, teen years, and college life in a search for answers. There were numerous warning signs in every stage of his life, but like his seizure, he didn't see them coming or what they were.

As the pages pass, the reader is exposed to the joy of escape through addiction in the beginning, which soon morphs into a nightmare as the addition goes out of control. That time when addiction rules every second of every day and becomes subservient to everything else. The slow slide into madness continues throughout the work leaving the reader to wonder if this Rocky will get off the canvass one more time.

As a novel, this is an incredibly disturbing read, which will resonate in those with addiction problems. According to the cover, it is "Based on Actual Events" while in the intro the author asks "...to be judged, not as an autobiographer, but as a writer of fiction." One wonders where the line is because the work reads all too real from start to finish. For those who have never understood the power of addition over every fiber of a person, this dark and disturbing book is a must read. Afterwards, it might just be a little clearer for you.

 

The Halo Effect
by M.J. Rose
Mira Books
Trade paperback, 337 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 0778320804
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

The book opens with the corpse of a prostitute, brutally murdered by killer with a sexual bent. It is only the first.

From there we move to the quiet office of Dr. Morgan Snow, a sex therapist at the Butterfield Institute. Dr. Snow has been treating patients for ten years, five at the institute. While helping a people with a variety of sexual problems, she has let her own marriage drift into a sexless friendship and then to divorce. She has just received the final divorce papers. She is now single and coping with being the mother of a preteen girl anxious to have an acting career.

At the Institute, Dr. Snow is working with Cleo Thane, a beautiful, polished, rich and a very successful prostitute who has come to the Butterfield Institute for sex therapy. While Cleo is successful with her clients and apparently happy in her work, she finds it impossible to have a normal sexual relationship with the man she wants to marry, Elias.

In therapy, Cleo has come to trust Dr. Snow and reveals that she has written a tell-all book about her clients, all rich and prominent men. She wants the doctor to be the first one to read it. Cleo knows the book is dangerous, but she wants to go ahead and have it published anyway. She gives the book to Dr. Snow, but then fails to show up for her next two appointments.

Dr. Snow worries that something has happened to Cleo, but has nothing but the missed appointments to go on. Her worries about the missing Cleo are intensified when Elias comes to her, also desperately worried. He has gone to the police but there is no evidence that anything has happened to Cleo and she does not fit the profile of the women who are being killed. He asks for Dr. Snow's help.

Morgan Snow cannot help him or later the police because her ethics won't allow her to disclose what Cleo has told her in therapy as long as there is a possibility that Cleo is alive. If she is to do anything to help, she must do it herself. She reads Cleo's book, she talks to Cleo's business partner—a conversation that leads to Morgan impersonating one of Cleo's girls and meeting with the clients mentioned in the book. While they disclose their sexual fantasies to determine if they want to hire Morgan for the night, she tries to determine if any of them are involved with Cleo's disappearance.

The complex plot leads the reader through personal and professional conflicts as Morgan copes with the police, her daughter, her professional co-worker and her ex-husband.

The Halo Effect is a well written story that combines erotic scenes and the aftermath of brutal violence with well drawn and sympathetic characters. It combines both the tension of a thriller with the puzzling features of a solid mystery. Ms. Rose's style is silkier and more polished that usually found in genre fiction.

The book is a joy to read. I recommend it and look forward to the next book in the Butterfield Institute series.

 

The Mask of Red Death: An Edgar Allan Poe Mystery
by Harold Schechter
Ballantine Books
Hardcover, 308 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0345448413
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzeln

Take one famous American poet, add a flamboyant huckster, a legendary frontiersman and a monstrous cannibalistic wild man, put them together in the miserable heat of a New York springtime, give them a stir and you'll come up with one good yarn.

In that spring/summer of 1845, Edgar Allan Poe, who has gained fame but not fortune after the publication of The Raven, is struggling to make ends meet. The income from his job at the Broadway Journal barely keeps food on the table for his sickly wife Virginia "Sissy," his aunt/mother-in-law Maria "Muddy" Clemm, and Catterina the cat. When a mysterious stranger offers him a huge sum of money to use his knowledge of handwriting analysis to authenticate a sensitive and potentially priceless document, he is therefore happy to oblige.

A brutal murder puts a quick end to this commission, but not to Poe's interest in the document. The crime appears to be linked to the horrible mutilation deaths of two young girls, and the popular press has strongly suggested that the awful murders must be the work of savages—in particular, the elderly, decrepit Crow Chief Wolf Bear, presently employed by the showman P.T. Barnum at his American Museum.

It so happens that P.T. and Poe are great friends (see the earlier Poe mystery The Hum Bug) and Poe, being knowledgeable about the various scalping methods employed by individual tribes, is quite sure of the Chief's innocence. The good people of New York City, however, have a different opinion, and intend to take matters into their own hands. In a miracle of good timing, the famed Western scout Kit Carson shows up to stave off disaster at the museum.

Meeting afterwards with Barnum, Poe and the authorities, Carson explains that he has come to the city to hunt down the notorious backwoodsman Liver Eating Johnson, with whom he has a very personal bone to pick. (The historic Johnson's exploits are detailed in an Author's note at the beginning of the book—not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach) When he describes Johnson's gruesome modus operandi, Poe concludes that the renegade mountain man is almost certainly responsible for the recent murders in the area. He offers his assistance to Carson, who somewhat dubiously accepts, and they set off to find a mountain monster in the urban jungle.

Their search takes them into some of the most dismal and dangerous real estate on the island. The descriptions are so vivid you can almost smell the odoriferous air and taste the moldy, nasty beer. Before their task is finished, more blood will be shed, innocent and otherwise, and Poe will have some close calls along the way. The subplot of the mysterious missing document will also be resolved, in a scene reminiscent of one of Poe's own stories.

Given his academic credentials, Schechter has skillfully intertwined historic fact with plausible fictional elements. Poe, Sissy, Muddy and Catterina were indeed living in Manhattan in the summer of 1845. His writing career was somewhat shaky, and he did delight in hurling criticism at other writers. I am still looking forward to reading more about the earlier adventures of Poe and P.T. in The Hum Bug.

 

The Past Is Never Dead
by David Schulman
John F. Blair
Hardcover, 271 pages, $22.95
ISBN: 0895872900
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Someone is about to jump from a building in Asheville, North Carolina. Gritz, the nickname for Dr. David Goldberg, summoned to the scene, discovers that he knows the assumed jumper and of course, that this individual has no intention of jumping. Theleneous Royal, otherwise known as T, was Gritz's caretaker and had known him his entire life even though he had not seen him recently. The good doctor learns about a heartsickness that his old friend carries: Sixty-five years ago, a young man was executed for killing a coed. T knows that this man, named Mordecai Moore, was innocent. Because Moore and T were both young black men, their statements were not valued in 1939. T convinced Gritz and several of his friends to become involved in finding out the truth.

Psychiatrist David Goldberg wears his Jewishness in a unique and delightful way. He'll talk about his passion for ham and also explore some of his other thoughts of being Jewish in Asheville, North Carolina. He comes from a quirky family consisting of his 89 year old father, his Aunt Little Faye and her cousin, Big Faye. Since his wife took off, his mother-in-law resides at his home with his two children. Little Faye and Gritz's father live together even though they aggravate each other about as much as you would want without moving out. To describe Little Faye as eccentric is not strong enough: she has plenty of memories of the 1930's characters.

Doctor Goldberg does have office hours and we meet some of his patients. His practice is a story in its own right, but there are several other characters we see outside the office. Essie Coleman is the secretary extraordinaire; this woman is hoping to save Gritz's soul and keeps him up to date with the latest revival information and where it can be visited. A massage therapist does give the doctor some relief and also offers advice to him. Pearlie is Gritz's driver. This works out well even though they really are not friends. It drives Gritz bonkers to drive and since Pearlie likes it, this is a solution for the doctor's obsessive tendency about managing a car. Add to this another compulsion, Gritz's foot fetish. Moving along with the zany characters, the sheriff seems to be a straight shooter, but look out for the mayor. The mayor of the town is Sherburne Bloom; he and Gritz were childhood acquaintances. Add to this cast of characters, the return of Gritz's former high school sweetheart.

You can rest assured that most of the characters stretch the limit to just about over the top. There are a lot of smells in this book and an occasional ghost spotting.

If you are looking for a fresh, humorous, not your ordinary mystery type story, this may fill the bill. My favorite line in the book was Gritz's exasperated statement, "The year 2004 felt much like 1966, but with cell phones."

Gritz grows on you even though I was not sure in the beginning. You will enjoy the ride to uncover the truth.

 

The Color of Emptiness
by Cynthia Webb
Avocet Press
Paperback, 281 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 0972507825
Reviewed by Diane Reynolds

What do I look for in a mystery? Likable characters and a plot that moves. Cynthia Webb's The Color of Emptiness provides ample servings of both.

Katherine McDonald is a child abuse lawyer who has recently separated from her social-climbing husband. She moves to Riverdale, a middle-class suburb near her workplace in the Bronx. A few months after her move, a serial killer starts murdering teenage boys. McDonald discovers that all the boys spent time at the same foster home—and that their killer may be stalking her.

I liked Katherine, who came across as very real: smart but wounded, caring but wary, attractive but vulnerable, and, most of all, unpretentious. Her job as child abuse lawyer, based on Webb's own career in the same field, was fully fleshed out and very believable. Katherine's struggles to work in an indifferent social services system are heartfelt and add substance to the book.

The story provides enough suspects and suspense so that the reader is guessing whodunit until almost the very end. Once we know who the killer is, the action moves very rapidly. The juxtaposition of poor areas of Bronx and middle-class Riverdale made for an interesting setting. I have to confess a special interest in the Bronx, as a place my grandparents lived until the mid-1970s. Of course, as a former—and current—Nancy Drew fan, I loved the descriptions of the food!

While the subject matter of the book is potentially grim—foster care, child abuse and serial murder—Webb deals with it lightly enough that it doesn't drag the story into a morass of darkness and despair.

There is a secondary murder plot involving one of Katherine's friends that could have been more convincing. While I liked Katherine very much, I would have preferred her to see her ex-husband as less of a caricature. Two dead cats used as warnings to Katherine might be a bit much for some readers, though handled tastefully.

However, I would strongly recommend this book as a solid, well-written mystery that does not rely on flashy gimmicks or trendy themes. At the end of the day you don't feel cheated or manipulated by the story; Webb deals with her readers honestly and intelligently and satisfies us with our money's worth of a good read.

 

Murder By Committee

Read past installments and find out more about Murder By Committee

Chester D. Campbell has worked as a journalist, a public relations consultant to the mayor of Nashville, a speechwriter for a governor of Tennessee and a freelance reporter and copywriter. That's why Campbell decided to become a novelist in his retirement.

A native of Nashville, Chester is a graduate of the journalism school at the University of Tennessee, was founder and editor of Nashville Magazine, the city's first consumer monthly. He also served as executive vice president of the Tennessee Association of Life Underwriters, published a guidebook for Nashville tourists and wrote a 150-year history of City Road Chapel United Methodist Church in Madison, Tennessee.

Secret of the Scroll, first in the Greg McKenzie Mystery Series, was his first published novel. The second, Designed to Kill, was released in 2004. Here, he takes our twisted tale and twists it yet again, adding more action, more mystery, and more laughs. Hang on...

CHAPTER 10
By Chester D. Campbell

It was nearly three a.m. and the airport resembled a ghost town. The last commercial flight had left around midnight. However, lights on the fixed base operator's ramp spilled a yellow glow across my Harpy. What it showed was not something to crow about. As our Goulash-to-Go truck approached the aircraft, I spotted two pairs of legs beneath the fuselage. They didn't have the look of a Chamber of Commerce bon voyage delegation. One featured capris pants like Betty had worn. The other sported blood-spattered gray trousers, the hallmark of one Jethro Guthrie.

I tapped the windshield with a cautioning finger. "Looks like a committee is ready to ambush us on the far side of the plane."

"Yeah," Tom said. I saw him glance at the rearview mirror. "And their pet thug is parked back at the gate blocking our escape path."

I pointed toward the end of the ramp. "During the landing, I recall seeing a perimeter road over there."

Tom swung the truck to the left and sped away from the Harpy. "That's probably it just ahead."

"Do you have a phone or radio we can use to call for backup?" I gave a sidewise glance at the mirror attached to the door. The reflection of Bruiser's Jag appeared to swing around to give chase.

"You're jesting, right, Harper?"

"Why would I do that?"

"The closest member of our team is currently in Frisco for a root canal."

I shuddered. Dentist chairs were one of my worst phobias. I'd as soon twitch my tush on the hot seat for Dr. Phil. I stuck the .38 back into my waistband and concentrated on the image in the outside mirror. Bruiser had apparently stopped momentarily to pick up his cohorts and was now picking up speed in our direction.

"There's a gate just ahead," Tom half-shouted. The other half missed my ear so I wasn't sure what to make of it.

I threw up my hands. "But it's locked."

Tom smiled. "No problem. In an earlier incarnation, this truck was used as a snowplow in the mountains. It still has a heavy metal scoop in front that's deployed with this lever."

He reached down to pull on something that looked like a brake handle. Moments later we plowed through the gate with the excruciating wail of screeching banshees. Recalling my store of Gaelic folklore, I knew the banshee's wail presaged a death in a family. I hoped it wasn't mine. Maybe Tom's? No, that was hardly fair.

When the banshee wailing continued after we headed out onto the highway, I realized it was Arnold, stuck under the seat.

"Can't you shut up that cat?" Tom pleaded. "I've got enough on my mind trying to figure how to outrun that Jag."

I pulled the fluffy white ball from under the seat and stroked his back a few times, fingering the silver plate on his collar. But I didn't have time to check further into Otis. A look back at the mirror showed the flash of automatic weapon fire in the vicinity of the headlights down the road behind us. We were still slightly out of range.

I glanced at the .38 tucked next to my skin and spoke with more concern than confidence. "Do you have any extra firepower in the back of the truck, Tom?"

He grinned. "There's a loaded grenade launcher back there."

"Really? Where the devil did that come from?"

"A couple of our guys on assignment in Iraq snatched it from a terrorist group that was too busy plotting beheadings to notice. Think you can handle it?"

I slipped between the seats to navigate my way to the back. "If I can't, I'll die trying." Somehow that didn't seem quite what I wish I had said.

I found the launcher velcroed to one side in back next to a stack of weird-smelling Hungarian dishes. My brief encounter with the peanut butter had done little for my hunger pains, but the Hungarian aroma did even less. I patted my flattening tummy and pulled the launcher from its mooring. I swung open one of the doors, dropped into a sitting position on the floor and pointed the thing toward our pursuers. I had no idea about the weapon's trajectory but doggedly fired away.

The projectile blasted off, it's recoil kicking me backward. But I stayed upright enough to see it explode in front of the vehicle. Although I scored no hit, I apparently shook up Bruiser enough that he veered off the road into a ditch.

I pulled the door shut and scurried toward the front.

"Looks like you got him," Tom said, slamming a hand against the wheel.

"I don't think so, but I sure scared the bejesus out of him. He went into the ditch, which should slow him down quite a bit. Where are we?"

"There's an entrance to I-5 just ahead. I'm heading for it."

"Then what?"

"Lake Shasta is just a few miles north. It's a haven for houseboats. I have a friend who keeps one tied up there. If we can make it on board, we can regroup and plot our next move."

"I suppose that's about all we can do. I don't see anybody on our tail now." I reached down for a purring Arnold and cuddled him on my lap. "I think I'll take a look at this little jewel called Otis. Do you have a pocketknife?"

Tom rammed a hand beneath his muumuu and tossed me a neat little Swiss Army knife. I broke a nail getting the blade open and cursed my luck at having no superglue handy to patch it with.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"Patience," I said, frowning at the recalcitrant collar.

After fighting off Arnold, who tried to bite my finger, I got the red collar loose. I used the knife to pry off the silver plate and found a recess that contained what appeared to be a very small computer chip.

I looked up at Tom. "Turn on the overhead light."

"Say please."

I shook my head. How long was I going to have to partner with a joker in a muumuu? When the light flashed on, I checked my find. It was, indeed, a microchip, with a small tag attached.

"Oh, oh," I murmured.

"What's wrong?"

"It says 'Number Two of two.' The first chip is missing. I'll bet it was stashed somewhere in my Harpy."

"Well, we're at the exit for the boat dock. What the—"

I saw what had stopped him. A spotlight shined down on the road in front of us as Tom turned onto the exit ramp. I heard a roaring noise and looked up through the windshield as a helicopter swung down toward us.

"They must have put a tracking device on this thing, just as we suspected," Tom said, his voice almost a growl.

"Yeah. And I should have remembered—Betty is a helicopter pilot."