January 2008

It's a new year at Mystery Morgue, as the holiday season has left us needing some murder and mayhem. So wait for the hangover to pass, and dive right in! You'll see reviews of new crime fiction from Deborah Turrell Atkinson, Robert B. Parker, Barbara Cleverly, Robert Harris and anthologies edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann, Robert Knightly and Sara Paretsky.

There's also a very incisive interview with Minnesota Crime Wave member Carl Brookins, who discusses the strange allure of Minnesota as a setting for murder and his own path to being a published author.

And in order to begin anew, it's necessary to bring some things to an end, so this month ends the round robin mystery story Murder By Committee, with the 31st chapter written by author E.J. Rand, whose first novel Say Goodbye will be the first title from Deadly Ink Publishing.

Dig in! The snow's piling up and there's a bunch of books to be read—get to work!

In this month's issue:

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Carl Brookins

Reviews:
Fire Prayer by Deborah Turrell Atkinson
Try Dying by James Scott Bell
A Carol For a Corpse by Claudia Bishop
Tug of War by Barbara Cleverly
Runoff by Mark Coggins
Three Sisters by James D. Doss
The Ghost by Robert Harris
Chicago Blues edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Queens Noir edited by Robert Knightly
The Critic by Peter May
Dead of the Day by Karen E. Olson
Sisters on the Case edited by Sara Paretsky
Island of Exiles by I.J. Parker
Now and Then by Robert B. Parker
Cold Moon Home by Julia Pomeroy
Short Change by Patricia Smiley
Accessory to Murder by Elaine Viets
Paying the Piper by Simon Wood

Ongoing Story:
"Murder By Committee," Chapter 31, by E.J. Rand

Link to Archives

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Carl Brookins

Before he became a mystery writer and reviewer, Carl Brookins was a counselor and faculty member at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Brookins and his wife are avid recreational sailors.

He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Private Eye Writers of America. He can frequently be found touring bookstores and libraries with his companions-in-crime, The Minnesota Crime Wave.

He writes the sailing adventure series featuring Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney. The third novel is Old Silver. His new private investigator series features Sean NMI Sean, a short P.I. The first is titled The Case of the Greedy Lawyers. Brookins received a liberal arts degree from the University of Minnesota and studied for a MA in Communications at Michigan State University.  

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

Absolutely.  I'm still living in the state and area where I grew up, Minnesota.  The people, the institutions, the climate and the social liberalism of the area continue to be significant influences on my attitudes and thus on my writing.

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

Yes.  Most of my formal education involved courses that required substantial amounts of writing.  All of my significant careers, have had a strong writing component as well.  When I was preparing to write my first novel, my wife, a wise woman and former publisher, urged me to take courses at The Loft, an impotant and well-known independent writers school.  I did that, and the courses were a great help.  Of course, one cannot be taught to be a writer, but one can certainly learn the craft of writing which is exactly what these courses provide.  I also took courses in journalism as one of my college majors.  That included writing for magazines, for television and for film.

How does your own background—academic, sailing, etc.—affect your plotting?

My background reflects my life interests.  My life interests are the areas from which I draw plots.  If I were not an enthusiastic sailor, I doubt I would have written the Tanner/Whitney series.  The same thing is true of my new academic mystery series.  It draws on my years of experience working in several colleges and universities.

How/when did you become interested in mysteries?

I am blessed with the ability to read fast and retain what I read—less so as I age.  My parents encouraged me to read from my earliest years.  In 1938 or 1939 I read a detective story for young people by Walter Brooks.  It is titled "Freddy the Detective" and I'm pleased to note it has recently been re-released.  Freddy, though a farm yard pig, hooked me forever on crime fiction.

What did you try writing before your first novel?

I wrote numerous press releases, essays on traffic safety, television scripts, radio and TV spot announcements, and a couple of film scripts.  I've also written a whole lot of reports associated with my jobs.  I guess you can say I've littered the landscape with hundreds of thousands of words. I do remember that as a young man I sold a very short western to a pulp magazine.  I think they paid me a quarter.

What did you learn writing your first novel?

Persistence, pacing; find a good editor and listen well to that individual.  I'm exceedingly fortunate that I'm married to a really good editor who is the exception that proves the rule.  That's the rule that you don't listen to what your relatives say about your work.

How long did it take to write?

I read fast and I write fast.  Then I do a whole lot of revising, which to me is the real fun part of the process.  It takes me eight to nine months now as it did in the beginning to get a book into the shape I want.

Does your having lived and worked in Minnesota play any part in your writing?

Sure.  Minnesota is a vast still untapped reservoir of interesting stories and characters and happenings I intend to draw on.

Have you travelled?  If so, has it contributed to the content of your books?

Oh yes.  We celebrated our 50th anniversary with a trip to Tuscany.  We've been to Europe and Canada (!) and all over the states.  In the Navy I was stationed and traveled to still other places.  I've sailed in Australia, Canadian waters, the Adriatic and the Caribbean.  I use or will use all those experiences.

How do you do your research?

Three ways.  Experience is a good well to draw from, but I find it a good idea to check recollection with independent sources.  I also do research on the Internet, at the library and in person, either face to face (my preference) or by phone and email.  I guess that's four ways.

Where do you get the ideas for your novels?

Like Kent Krueger, I subscribe to a monthly magazine called "Plots for Mystery Writers."  Seriously, from anywhere.  I've developed novels from a newspaper story, from a fragment of conversation heard at the airport, from listening to other writers, from my family. 

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?

My daughters and my wife are my principal inspirations for my female characters.  Strong, self-aware intelligent "real" women like Mary Whitney are one of my strengths, I'm told.  That said, I draw on what I observe around me, the way different people operate and react in different situations.  But none of my characters are lifted totally from life.  Put another way, all my characters have something of myself in them along with many other people I know and have known.

Who are the writers whose work you most admire, and who perhaps have influenced your writing?

It's pretentious to admit, I suppose, but I am blown away by Shakespeare.  I read and re-read him a lot.  His use of language—I want to bring back some of his incredible oaths—is just stunning.  My modern hero is Richard Prather.  His use of irony, his satirical writing, that's my goal, to write satirical crime fiction as well as he did.  I hope my detective, Sean Sean, one day reaches that level.  In addition to those two, I greatly admire John D. MacDonald, Sara Paretsky, Dennis Lehane, James Sallis, Peter May, Kent Krueger, Susan Runholt.

Has being a member of the Minnesota Crime Wave benefited you?  If so, in what way?

Seriously?  Almost seven years and counting.  Take the work and time involved in putting together your own author's tour for, let's say 13 days, 4500 miles and 17 events.  The schedule, the hotel reservations, the calls to bookstores, libraries, the mailing, all the details.  Now divide all that work by three.  It's obvious immediately what the advantages are.  More.  Ellen Hart's audience is different from mine, just as Krueger's audience is different from either mine or Hart's.  So there is a synergism to our joint appearances.  Our appearances are pretty lively because we play off each other in a positive enjoyable way.  Finally there's this.  If we go five thousand miles to a bookstore and the store and we have done everything possible to attract an audience and still no one shows up, well, at least we've got each other to talk to!

 

Reviews

Fire Prayer
by Deborah Turrell Atkinson
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 282 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590584026
Reviewed by Kevin R. Tipple

Storm Kayama and Ian Hamlin—who is both her partner and her lover—have made the short island hop to Molokai on behalf of a rich client whose son is missing. He went out on a tour run by a local outfit two weeks ago never to be seen again. The son is twenty six, sits on the board of directors as well as being an officer of the company. The client may have a very well paying negligence suit if something bad has happened.

Storm is also investigating a case for her old classmate Tanner Willaims, whose marriage crashed in flames for a variety of reasons, which included his wife's drinking and his own mental illness. The last thing he wants is for their son, Luke, to have issues especially since he has just been diagnosed with diabetes. Within hours of Storm's first visit to check on Luke, his ex wife is dead, Tanner is missing, Luke is in the hospital and there are links to a nearly ten-year-old murder case. With Storm and Ian doing their own things, as well as a veritable plethora of other characters, everything is bound to come out eventually.

The result is an interesting read featuring two difficult main cases as well as numerous interesting secondary deals: the old murder case, the culture of the islands, Storm's love of horses, etc. As such, each and every plot point is seen through the eyes of nearly every single character. Time seems to nearly stand still in the work as an event is depicted through the eyes of one character, then through another, then through another and often through a couple more before the reader is moved on to a new event where the same pattern is repeated.

The result creates a slow moving read in terms of action while at the same time provides deep understanding of each character major and minor. Along the way the rich cultural history of the Hawaiian islands is discussed and further bolstered by a multi page glossary at the end of the novel. At 282 total pages the novel leans more towards the cozy side of the mystery genre as it entertains readers.

 

Try Dying
by James Scott Bell
Center Street
Hardcover, 280 pages, $21.99
ISBN: 1599956848
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

A bizarre series of events have culminated in the death of a 27-year-old elementary school teacher on an LA freeway:  A man has shot his wife, then shot himself on a freeway overpass, falling over onto a car driven by Jacqueline Dwyer, who was killed.  Her fiancé, Ty Buchanan, a 34-year-old trial attorney, is devastated and completely bereft.  And then, at her funeral, shockingly, a stranger approaches Ty and tells him that his fiancée was murdered. 

Professionally, Ty has been handling a huge case for his firm: He is defending Dr. Lea Edwards in a $10-million lawsuit that has been brought against her for libel, invasion of privacy, and harassment arising from an incident of repressed memory, that of the plaintiff in the case. 

In the opening pages of the book, looking back at the time after the funeral of his fiancée and the confrontation which took place there, the author, through Ty, queries:  "How does a hot young lawyer on the rise, a guy with a future draped with Brioni, go from the twentieth floor to the county jail?  How does a guy become something he's never been, more animal than man, able to and wanting to hurt people?  Kill people?  How does he go from light to darkness as fast as you can flip a switch in a mortuary basement?"  But all that is precisely what transpires from that point forward, as his life spins completely out of control. 

When things seem like they can't get worse for Ty, they do.  There is another dead body, this one unquestionably a murder, and Ty is a suspect.  At the same time, he seems to be attracting muscular types intent on inflicting major harm to him.  The author at times uses somewhat overblown dialogue, e.g., "What blazed out clear were her acetylene-blue eyes," and "Her red lips parted like flower petals opening to the sun," and credulity is stretched a bit at the denouement, but the tale is a good one, and the novel was fast and interesting.  I especially enjoyed the character of the nun who is a whiz on the basketball court, who becomes Ty's ally.  In all, this was a pleasurable read.

 

A Carol For A Corpse
by Claudia Bishop
Berkley Publishing Group
Paperback, 202 Pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0425218341
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

This book is a Christmas edition Hemlock Falls Mystery.  Hemlock Falls is a small town in upstate New York where Sarah "Quill" Quilliam-McHale and her sister Meg own the Inn at Hemlock Falls.  Currently having financial troubles, Quill and Meg sign a contract with Zeke "the Hammer" Kingsfield and his wife Lydia.  The Inn is going to be featured in Lydia's cooking magazine, published by Kingsfield Publishing, and used as a set for a televised cooking show. 

Just when the sisters think their troubles are over, the television crew arrives in town—bringing along plenty of drama.  Lydia, who seems to remember being best friends with Quill in high school back in Connecticut, is high maintenance.  Her husband, Zeke, is a smooth talker and womanizer.  When Zeke's body is found in a ravine near the cross country ski trail, Lydia calls in her attorneys to sue the Inn for negligence.  Unlike the Sheriff, Quill and Meg believe Zeke was murdered and have to prove it themselves or risk losing everything.

This is a fun cozy that will put you in the holiday spirit, even in January.  It contains plenty of colorful characters and small town humor surrounding the mystery.  Christmas recipes and decorative hints are also included.  The best part—there are many more in the Hemlock Falls Mystery series to enjoy.

Tug of War
by Barbara Cleverly
Carroll & Graff
Hardcover, 253 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0786719575
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Joe Sandilands, currently with Scotland Yards and Interpol, is back for his sixth outing in Tug of War. When Joe asks for time off to take is honorary niece to the south of France to rejoin her father, he is asked by his commander to take a small detour to Reims. A prisoner of war, suffering from post traumatic stress, has been returned to France with no identification. The prisoner does not speak and appears to be suffering from amnesia. However, while experiencing nightmares, the soldier has cried out in English, so Joe is asked to investigate to see if the man is English and if so arrange for him to be returned to England.

The problem is, four different families have claimed the man as their loved one. All four have some forms of proof of identity such as  photos or knowledge of birthmarks. Since the French government will pay a substantial pension to the family of the soldier,  there is the  financial motive of each family to be considered as well.

While Sandilands is only to determine if the patient is English, he soon gets caught up in the mystery of who the man could be and begins a thorough investigation into each of the four families' claims and motives.

Cleverly has again captured the human agony of World War I. In this book, the reader is taken inside the grief of the families of not the war dead, but the rather, the missing and presumed dead. It's a fascinating look into human despair that leads people to want to claim as their own a severely disabled survivor of war, even if there is very little cause to believe he is their loved one.

Cleverly's books are not light reading. While they are of great interest to history buffs and readers of historical fiction of the early 1900's, they are also excellent reads for people who want something to think about long after they have put away the book.

Runoff
by Mark Coggins
Bleak House Books
Hardcover, 260 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-932557-53-4
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

August Riordan has now appeared in four novels in this series, and if Runoff is any indication, it is a wonder how he's made it this far.  In the space of 260 pages, he is knifed, shot, hit with a meat cleaver down to the bone, jumps off roofs, among other hazards, and just goes on as if nothing had happened.  But, I guess, all that goes with the territory of a PI.  August also plays bass in a jazz quartet (also not so unusual; after all, Sherlock Holmes played the violin).

With nothing to do, August stakes out bank ATMs which are being hijacked, in an attempt to capture the thief and collect a posted reward.  Then he is retained by the Dragon Lady, a rich Chinese woman with a finger in a lot of pots, including an art gallery and a newspaper, among other things.  She has a beautiful daughter who provides an interesting diversion.  August is asked to investigate the possibility that a Mayoral election was "fixed," causing the Chinese candidate to come in third. The two leading candidates, supported by opposing forces, then are in a runoff to take place in just a few days.

The assignment leads August and his sidekick in myriad directions and dangers.  Various possibilities surround a new touch voting-screen system used for the first time in the City by the Bay.  The novel is written in the customary attributes of the genre—the hard-boiled PI, the wisecracks, some sex and a twisting plot.  Descriptions of San Francisco are excellent, and the writing is in keeping with the subject, including technical descriptions of the voting system.

Three Sisters
by James D. Doss
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 320 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0312364595
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

There is a mesa near the Ute Reservation in Colorado with three rock formations resembling faces called Three Sisters.  Then there are the three Spencer sisters in Granite Creek, all beautiful and rich.  The eldest, Cassandra, is a TV psychic, whose live on-air visions predict sordid events like arson and murder.  The novel gets off to a slow start, with the author expounding on any number of topics, and little happens until the entry of Charlie Moon's aunt Daisy, a Ute Shaman whose investigative talents and inquisitiveness get an assist from the spirit world, enters the scene.

Moon, a rancher and part-time tribal investigator, makes his 12th appearance in this series.  With the help of his best friend, Scott Parris, and his aunt, the road to solving the various mysteries is enabled.  The first of these begins with the chilling death of the youngest sister.  Then there is the question of how the psychic sister achieves her visions.  And there are others.

There are many amusing pieces of dialogue or asides throughout the book.  Despite some over-the-top elements, I did enjoy reading the novel, and would recommend others do so also.

The Ghost
by Robert Harris
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 335 pages, $26.00
ISBN: 1416551812
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Politics make strange bedfellows.  But in this novel, a ghostwriter with no background or interest in politics is engaged to "save" the memoirs of a Tony Blair-like ex-Prime Minister (all for a quarter-of-a-million dollars for a month's efforts).  PM Adam Lang left office under a cloud—an unpopular war in Iraq which he supported as an ally of the United States.

The memoir was researched and written by a long-time aide, whose body apparently has fallen off the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, where the PM is holed up, and washed ashore.  The ghostwriter travels to the United States to help make the manuscript publishable.  What he discovers is the gist of the novel—all is not what it seems, and the facts of Lang's rise to power do not seem to gibe with historical evidence.

Then charges of war crimes are brought against Lang and the ghostwriter betrays the very precepts of the profession by investigating the background to the charges, even endangering his own life.  Not only politics but conspiracy theories populate the telling of this thriller.  When read against contemporary public opinion, it is formidable and imaginative, if not a little far-fetched.  Nevertheless it is an interesting read which I would recommend.

Chicago Blues
Edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann
Bleak House Books
Hardcover, 456 pages, $27.95
ISBN: 1932557503
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzel

Chicago, like the other major cities of the world, is a writer's paradise, rich in historical stories and larger-than-life characters. In one realm Chicago is unique—it is the capital of the Blues.  In this anthology are twenty-one stories, written by Chicago authors both well-known and, at least to this reviewer, newer on the scene, that explore Chicago Blues in all their permutations.  Some of the stories, as Ms. Hellmann says in her preface, are "about people who sing the Blues. Some are about people who have the Blues, and some are about people who wear the Blues."

In his introduction, Rick Kogan recalls an interview he had with Koko Taylor, the Queen of the Blues, in 1988. Despite her fame, she did not live with the trappings of a rock star, but had an ordinary life with all its ups and downs, where "the sun don't shine everyday."

All the stories are good, and some are stellar.  Some feature the author's series protagonist, and some are completely different than their usual work. A few of my favorites:

Libby Fischer Hellmann writes a touching story of a father and son relationship torn apart by the murder of the boy's mother.  The ending is bitter-sweet, as the boy, now a man, learns the depths of his father's love.  

Sara Paretsky's series protagonist, V.I. Warshawski, runs afoul of an Ann Coulter-ish crime writer when she refuses to be her bodyguard on her book tour.

J.A. Konrath's homicide detective Jack Daniels tried to talk a distraught civilian out of blowing himself up, with distressing results.

Barbara D'Amato takes us to Chicago's underbelly as the boys in blue investigate a death in a homeless community on lower Wacker.

And so much more. This is one of the better anthologies I've come across.  You don't have to be a Blues fan to enjoy reading Chicago Blues, and you'll be glad you did.

20th Century Ghosts
by Joe Hill
William Morrow
Hardcover, 311 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0061147975
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Two years before the appearance of Joe Hill's first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, this collection of short stories appeared in a limited run in the UK.  It is now available in the United States with an additional story not available in the original volume.  While the novel gathered wide praise and exhibited the author's talent for horror, the short stories are wide ranging—from fantasy to supernatural.

Each story is quite different from the others.  The title story, "20th Century Ghosts," describes a girl who haunts a movie theater.  "Better than Home" tells the relationship of an emotionally troubled boy and his father, the hot-headed manager of the Detroit Tigers.  In another, "In the Rundown," a troubled young man encounters a woman in shock, the result of an attack during which one of her children was murdered.

The bonus short story, "Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead," describes two ex-lovers who meet by chance as extras on a horror movie set.  All the stories show the author's ability to characterize human emotions.  They demonstrate not only his ability to portray the dark side, but also his imagination and creative ability.

Queens Noir
Edited by Robert Knightly
Akashic Books
Paperback, 350 pages, $15.95
ISBN: 1933354408
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The newest in the Akashic Noir series, following prior compilations of short stories dedicated to tales in, among other places, other New York boroughs:  Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, this follows the pattern of the previous books in that it is comprised of all-new stories, predominantly by little-known authors.  (Other books include other major American cities as well as ones outside of the U.S., e.g., Dublin, London and Havana.)  I must admit the only authors in the present book with whose prior work I was familiar were Stephen Solomita and K.J.A. Wishnia.

The stories range in length from very short, e.g., four and six pages, to twenty-eight pages.  They are somewhat uneven, but the whole is enjoyable.  Other authors whose tales are included are Denis Hamill, Megan Abbott, and the editor, Robert Knightly.  The book is divided into three sections, and covers time frames as recent as 2006, covering a blackout which engulfed the area that summer, in a story by Liz Martinez; a somber post-9/11 tale by Patricia King; one by Megan Abbott in a story about the 1970's; and one by Joe Guglielmelli sure to please any Mets fan (of which I am admittedly and unashamedly one) which includes references to one great season and one notoriously disastrous trade that will make fans grin and grimace by turn before it veers into considerably darker territory. (Mr. Guglielmelli was a co-owner of the very recently closed—and sorely missed—Black Orchid Mystery bookstore in Manhattan.)  An interesting assortment of stories, and the book makes for a good read.

 

The Critic
by Peter May
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 300 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-59058-458-3
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The critic of the title was a renowned wine critic whose opinions in his newsletter could make or break a vintner.  He disappeared four years previously and his body has just turned up dressed in the garb of the Brotherhood of the Order of the Divine Bottle, his body obviously having been immersed in wine.  The case was one of five unsolved mysteries in a book, the first of which was solved by Enzo Macleod, a Scotsman now a professor of forensics in France.

Enzo now travels to Gaillac, a wine-producing section of France, to look into the critic's murder, and discovers a series of other seemingly unrelated disappearances.  There are plenty of suspects and too few clues.  Complicating the task are several problems, including the critic's secret code for evaluating the wines he tasted, as well as inter-personal relationships.

The novel is so well written, the background of the production of wine and descriptions of the elements so well done, that the reader is carried along in a heady manner.  The solution to the various puzzles is so unexpected, that the reader is rewarded beyond expectations.  The Critic is highly recommended.

Dead of the Day
by Karen E. Olson
Obsidian Mystery
Paperback, 300 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451222473
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The title of Karen E. Olson's newest book, the third in the Annie Seymour Mystery series, refers to the newspaper term for the obits on area residents who have died that day.  As the book opens, Annie Seymour, crime reporter for the New Haven Herald, there are two such events:  First the body of a man is found floating in the waters of the harbor, parts of his body covered in bee stings (a wildly unimaginable thing in mid-April), while later that day the city's newly-installed police chief is gunned down in front of the Yale Repertory Theatre in a drive-by shooting as he is about to enter the theatre with his wife and his best friend, the assistant chief.

Annie seems particularly well-suited to cover the story, as she had just wrapped up a series of interviews in preparation for a profile of the police chief, an Hispanic with little experience and no known enemies.  The police, and Annie, have their work cut out for them.

Annie and her off-again-on-again romance with a private detective, and another with a police detective with whom she broke up when she met the p.i., keep her off balance.  Also figuring into the story are her mother, an attorney whose boyfriend happens also to be Annie's publisher; the police chief's wife, a Chinese woman who is a scientist at Yale; a ubiquitous cleaning woman; undocumented workers; Homeland Security; and those darn bees, whose presence recurs at the oddest times, as does that of several characters in the book.  Annie thinks "My head was swirling with too much information, too many questions, and not enough answers," and I knew just what she meant.  I had difficulty at times keeping the many characters and plot lines straight.  But it is an interesting tale with many different things going on at once, in which the reporter's trade is apparently realistically drawn.

Sisters on the Case
Edited by Sara Paretsky
Obsidian
Paperback, 326 pages, $7.99
ISBN: 0451222398
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

This new anthology celebrates twenty years of Sisters in Crime, fittingly edited by the woman who founded that organization at Bouchercon in 1986.  As most are aware, this is an international body originally created by and for female mystery and crime writers but which now counts many male authors among its members.  The book includes, fittingly, twenty short stories, by a varied group of female writers, and is published by a new mystery imprint, always a good and welcome event.

Admittedly short stories are not my favorite things, but this collection is fast reading and very enjoyable.  The entries move from present-day to P.M. Carlson's 1880's Chicago; jumping a quite a bit to the Chicago of 1968 at the time of the Democratic convention riots in Libby Fischer Hellmann's "The Whole World is Watching," one of the longer tales and one I especially liked.  Among my other favorites were stories by Barbara D'Amato; Susan Dunlap (short but shocking); Rochelle Krich (ditto); Linda Grant, in a tale of, surprisingly, a female contract killer who has taken over the family business; Carolyn Hart in a story of comeuppance; the late Charlotte MacLeod's charming "Lady Patterly's Lover;" Margaret Maron's delightful "You May Already Be a Winner;" Annette Meyers' mini-police procedural, one of the sadder entries; and all capped off by what is assuredly the first appearance of V.I. Warshawski, again taking the reader to Chicago, this time in 1920, when V.I. was a young girl.

An altogether estimable collection.

Island of Exiles
by I.J. Parker
Penguin Books
Paperback, 398 pages, $14.00
ISBN: 0143112594
Reviewed by Janet Koch

Improving your life in 11th century Japan is a difficult business. Akitada, noble but poor, intelligent but headstrong, a junior clerk but ambitious, is doing his best to get back into the good graces of the superiors he'd offended during the pursuit of a murderer.

At the behest of the emperor's emissaries, he leaves his wife and infant son to conduct an undercover investigation into the recent murder of the Second Prince. Though Akitada is reluctant to travel so far, as he tells his wife, "perhaps something good may come of it."

The rebellious Second Prince was a resident of an island that housed political prisoners. Though the son of the island's governor has been thrown into jail for the murder of the Second Prince, the governor swears the young man isn't guilty. The emperor's emissaries feared the prince was killed in a plot to overthrow the emperor, but the governor fears the Second Prince was killed in a plot to overthrow the governor's rule. Who is behind the plot? Is there even a plot at all?

Akitada disguises himself as a prisoner and soon finds himself with more problems than he anticipated—and few ideas how to solve them. When Tora, Akitada's loyal servant, comes in search of a long-overdue master, he is told that "there's nothing you can do here except die." Neither Akitada nor Tora have any intention of dying, but even the best of intentions are no use as weapons against an enemy willing to sacrifice everything.

Island of Exiles is a complex tale of political intrigue, power, and betrayal. The story unfolds at a steadily increasing pace and ends up galloping to a strong—and startling—finish.

Author I. J. Parker expertly instills the novel with the sights, smells, and sounds of early Japan. From the silks worn by the "good people" to the hunger suffered by the peasants, Parker gives depth and life to an era long gone. Island of Exiles is the fourth adventure of Sugawara Akitada.

Now and Then
by Robert B. Parker
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Hardcover, 296 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 0399154416
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cohen

Spenser is back (yes, again), doing what you'd think would be some routine investigation, following a woman whose husband has hired the Boston P.I. to determine if the woman is having an affair. It follows that she is, and before anyone knows it, both she and her husband are dead, and oh yeah, the husband was an FBI agent.

This involves the venerable detective with a pseudo-supremacist arms dealer who is showing some interest in Spenser's "main squeeze" Susan Silverman, and old feelings about Susan's infidelity 20 years ago are surfacing.

Parker isn't really modifying the formula much, but he's trying to delve into the characters a little more than he usually does, and that makes it a little less automatic than some of the more recent entries in the series. Spenser is a little more introspective, a little more bothered than usual, and that helps make the pages turn.

The author hasn't lost his touch for snappy dialogue, and many of the series continuing characters make their traditional appearances. If you're a Spenser fan, you won't be disappointed. If you're coming to the series for the first time, a look at A Catskill Eagle before reading this one wouldn't hurt.  Either way, the master is still masterful, and always worth the quick, entertaining read he delivers.

Cold Moon Home
by Julia Pomeroy
Carroll & Graf Publishers
Hardcover, 330 pages, $26.99
IBSN: 0786719815
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

Abby Silverdale works as a part time waitress in the InnBetween, a small restaurant in Bantam, New York and lives in her trailer on the Silvernale farm with her two dogs.  Driving home dead tired after work Abby almost runs off the road and into a ditch when a woman appears out of the darkness.  Abby stops.  It turns out that Germaine LeClair, a flamboyant writer, has run her own car off the road and into a tree.  She asks Abby for a lift to her father's house.  When they arrive, Germaine asks Abby to wait for a minute while she speaks to her father.  Through the window, Abby watches her pull a gun on an old man.  After some heated words, Germaine leaves, dropping the gun and begging Abby to drive her home.

Several days later, with business falling off at the restaurant now that the tourist season is over, Abby has to take a second job as part-time secretary to an old man who used to be a noted sculptor.  He turns out to be Norman, Germaine's father, and Abby finds herself in the middle of a mystery about the death of the old man's wife many years before. Then one morning, Abby arrives for work to fine Norman dead on the floor.  

Meanwhile, things are not going well at the restaurant.  A new dishwasher has been hired and the familiar, comfortable relationships among the staff and the owner are deteriorating.  Abby is sure that it has something to do with Fritz, the new dishwasher, but she has nothing tangible to back up her feeling and her boss, Dulcie, does not take kindly to any criticism of him.  Abby decides to try to find out what the problem is.

The multiple mysteries intertwine as Abby tries to unravel the stories behind the deaths and the problems at the restaurant.  Ultimately she finds the answers, but almost ends up paying for that understanding with her life. 

Cool Moon Home takes the reader well into the town of Bantam and creates a series of interesting and engaging characters.  The descriptions of the people, buildings and landscape are apt and the plots are satisfyingly intricate.  An enjoyable read.

Short Change
by Patricia Smiley
New American Library
Hardcover, 295 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0451221445
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

This is the third entry in the Tucker Sinclair mystery series, and it is just as much of a good read as the earlier ones. Tucker is a management consultant, her primary expertise rescuing businesses in trouble; the fact that she is a smart, resourceful woman with a knack for getting herself into—and hopefully out of—trouble is just a bonus. 

Her latest client is a p.i. named Charley Tate, a retired LAPD bomb squad sergeant.  As Tucker is attempting to turn his business into one that actually earns him a profit, Charley is hired by a woman who identifies herself as Eve Lawson and tells him she fears she is being stalked, then pays him a $1,000 cash deposit to find out who has been following her.  Tucker reluctantly agrees to assist Tate.  Then, in short order, the woman disappears, and a wanted embezzler, whose name and description fit that of Eve's boyfriend, is found murdered. Eve becomes a suspect in the murder; it appears that either she killed the embezzler or she's to be the killer's next victim.

Of course, there are the requisite number of personal preoccupations, e.g., Tucker's boyfriend, a handsome homicide detective with the LAPD, who seems to have had a relationship with a Deputy DA who thinks the relationship is still present tense; and a paternal relative who claims that Tucker's father is someone other than the man her mother married. While trying to deal with these distractions, Tucker becomes increasingly involved in the investigation of the murder and the whereabouts of Charley's client, imperiling herself in the process. 

There are questions of fraud, corporate greed and shady property dealing, though the tone is mostly light and the writing funny.  Tucker is a good-humored and capable woman who is surrounded by a mother named Pooky who runs a yoga studio one of whose employees is named Petal; just possibly a father who goes by the name of Peaches LaRue; a West Highland terrier who was adopted and who is therefore referred to as a "used dog," et. al.—an altogether charming bunch, in a book which is equally delightful and fast-moving.

Accessory to Murder
by Elaine Viets
Obsidian Mystery
Paperback, 268 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451222589
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

I must admit to having only a vague knowledge of what a "mystery shopper" does.  That is no longer the case, and I am the happier for my new-found knowledge.  Elaine Viets' new book is the third entry in this series, following her earlier and popular Dead End Job mystery series. Ms. Viets comes by her knowledge of this occupation honestly:  Her mother held that job in the '60s, and she describes it as being part actress, part undercover cop.

As the job title implies, Josie Marcus, 31, single and the mother of a nine-year-old girl, is paid to visit the stores run by those who hire her employer to shop and report on conditions and rate the employees as well as the product in those stores.  She is often accompanied by her best friend, Alyce, calling her "her best disguise. Nobody sees two housewives." 

An occupational hazard is chugging Maalox straight from the bottle when she has to visit and report on the greasy-spoon fast food chains in the area.  Having just visited a St. Louis mall store featuring magnificent and highly-priced Italian silk scarves designed by Halley Hardwicke, one of Alyce's neighbors, who had soared to prominence after being "merely" a suburban housewife, her design so unique that the gorgeous shade she uses is described as "Halley blue" by one and all, Halley is murdered, apparently in an attempted carjacking.

The police suspect Alyce's husband, Jake, and Josie, with Alyce's help, tries to find clues to the real killer, convinced that Jake is innocent—of murder, at any rate—they do suspect that he might have had an intimate relationship with unhappily-married Halley.  Their suspicions focus on the dead woman's husband, two men who had had close relationships with her in the past, and assorted "friends" and neighbors.  The word "friends" is in quote marks for a reason—the book turns heavily on the true meaning of that word.  Alyce becomes a pariah among those she thought she counted in that category. 

Josie, however, is the real thing.  She is also great fun.  Accessory to Murder is a delightful read, and I will look forward to the next entry in the series.

Paying the Piper
By Simon Wood
Leisure Fiction
Paperback, 386 pages, $7.99
ISBN: 0843959802
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The tension starts on page 1 of Simon Wood's wonderful new novel.  Scott Fleetwood, a crime reporter with the San Francisco Independent, has been told by his frantic wife that one of his twin sons has been kidnapped.  When the next call he gets is from the kidnapper, Scott's horror only increases: The Piper, as he calls himself, has a history with Scott. 

As we soon learn in the first of several flashback scenes, eight years back it appeared that a serial kidnapper had called Scott at his desk and began a series of communications with him.  Spurred on by the thought of saving the latest victim as well as by the attendant fame surely ahead of him, Scott ultimately is horrified when he learns he has been "played" by a phony, the whole thing a hoax, and the kidnapped boy is killed when the real kidnapper fails to receive his demanded ransom. Scott receives the blame for the boy's death from the public, his wife, the FBI and, not least of all, himself.  

This time, the kidnapping of Scott's son appears to be personal: The Piper also holds Scott to blame, for his lost ransom and forced "retirement." And Scott doesn't yet know the full extent of what will be expected from him in order to gain his son's freedom.

As difficult as it would seem for the author to keep up the suspense generated from the first pages, he has accomplished this in skillful fashion, maintaining and amping up the tension as the tale unfolds.  The complex characters and intricate plotting make this much more than just a page-turner—it'll keep you right on the edge of your seat till the final page.

 

Murder by Committee

Read past installments and find out more about Murder By Committee

Chapter 31
by E.J. Rand

All good things must come to an end, and so does Murder By Committee, the serial mystery that we here at the Morgue initiated more than two years ago. Where Julia Spencer-Fleming began a tale that seemed relatively straight-forward at the time, writers as diverse as Rhys Bowen, Harley Jane Kozak, Carl Brookins (see interview above), Jeffrey Cohen, Robin Burcell, Gordon Aalborg, William Shakespeare (he said he was Shakespeare), Denise Dietz and Chester D. Campbell have contributed.

Now, however, it's time to draw this twisty, twisted tale to a close, and the brave soul who agreed to do so is E.J. Rand, who as senior VP of a NYSE management consulting company and then senior VP at a public relations company, where he represented a national top-ten homebuilder, still found a way to write. Quarterly earnings statements, corporate annual reports, consulting proposals, and thousands of newspaper and magazine stories—not in his name, of course, but they were all writing assignments.

Early one morning he was out in the snow, bringing in the paper, when a friend drove past on his way to work. They waved, Rand asked himself "What if?" and he was hooked. From that emerged Say Goodbye. And what better title to lead to an ending?

Betty Watekis was sitting in the pilot's seat wearing a serious expression and a black leather jacket that was definitely not eco-friendly.  I'd never seen her in glasses, or with her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.  She thumbed at me.  "Get in back."

I paused, half-in.  "Or what?  You'll lock me up again?  Where's the gun?  Is Guthrie gonna slug me?"

Betty looked at me oddly.  "Please get in back.  We have little time."  To underscore the point, she turned away and continued the pre-flight checks.

I hadn't heard "please" in, well, weeks, and let's face it, nothing made sense anymore.  So despite the bum's rush and apparent danger, I climbed in.  The four tan-leather swivel chairs, with armrests and drink holders, were expecting higher-class company, and the cabin smelled lemony, like maid service had just finished.  I plopped in the closest chair, swiveled forward, and heard the left engine catch and roar.  "Snazzy.  Who's paying?"

"Haloworth, though he doesn't know it," Guthrie said, clambering in, locking the door, and dropping onto the co-pilot's seat.  He leaned around to face me.  "This jet suits his operation—needs the shortest runway in its class.  Lands even on Ojai."

He looked so earnest.  I wanted to believe him.  It came to me that of all of it, the blanking out, waking in strange beds across the globe, meeting old friends and lovers, and seeing men die, I wanted Guthrie—or whatever his name—to be...  "Yeah," I said, and let the seat embrace me.  The second engine kicked it.  Quality aircraft, I could hear myself think.

The plane was rolling, gaining speed, when he interrupted my reverie.  "We're sorry," he said.

Now he's sorry?  "For what?  Where are you taking me?"

Betty answered:  "We have it under control, I think.  Tell you in a minute."

The aircraft surged into the air with such speed that I was glad my stomach was empty.  "You mean you've figured out the CIA, FBI, Haloworth, your Internet Security Group, OTIS. . . ?"

She ignored me, concentrating on a tight turn.  It was Guthrie who said, "Shit!" a moment before I heard the whoomp whoomp of a helicopter.  Betty continued the turn and headed out to sea.  Guthrie opened a storage compartment and extracted a small machine gun.
"Maybe we don't have it under control," she said.

How nice.  A slice of life so like the recent rest.  What would James Bond do?  Probably have sex with me before we all died.  I leaned toward Guthrie.

"Must be Greer," he said.

"But he—"  Bullets pattering along our right wing interrupted me.

"Think any of this is real," Betty said, without turning, but obviously to me.

I came up with a few answers and several questions, but held them in; I was getting used to being in the audience at My Life.  More  burps from the chopper.  We banked sharply to the left.  No hits.  I gripped the armrests as Betty spun the plane; it almost stalled and headed straight for the ocean.  Watching the onrushing water, thinking that was the worst, I saw Guthrie tenderly stroke Betty's shoulder—and the only good part of this nightmare crumpled.

The helicopter whizzed past, sleek, black, with double turbines and rotors, rocket pods, and no markings.  "UN?" I asked.

"Hold on, Harper," Guthrie said.  I already was.

"Now!" from Betty, as she tipped the aircraft on its right wing.  Guthrie pushed from his seat, kneeling, used the side of my chair as support and forced open the door to poke out the gun barrel.  The Cessna shuddered from the drag—it sounded like we were in a hurricane.  It all happened at once, Betty turning until the ocean filled the windshield, the chopper thumping close above while Guthrie's weapon sounded like a car with a faulty muffler.  Shell casings sprayed into the cabin, burning me as they bounced. 

I couldn't force my eyes away from the looming ocean, froth reaching for us, and in the silence when the door closed I heard sloshing against the wingtip.  The engines strained as Betty pulled back on the stick, the cords of her neck visible.  Guthrie staggered into the chair.  Aircraft vibrations mixed with an ugly whine, cracking metal.

"Oh, shit!" Betty cried.

I looked out the side window and saw jagged pieces of steel hurling toward us.  The plane dove again, no way to miss the water now, but turning away from the missiles.  What looked like a section of rotor sliced through the left wing as we pancaked, bouncing on small wavelets.  The chopper, above us a thousand yards off, rotors smashed, hung for a moment before plummeting, picking up speed.  Before it hit, I saw frantic people.  It bounced like a skimming rock and then exploded in a blinding fireball that knocked me off the seat.

"Can you swim?" Guthrie asked, and I saw he meant me.  Not much choice as he opened the door and water flooded in.

"There goes my good leather," Betty said.  She appeared with lifejackets, helped me on with one.  They had whistles, homing beacons, and a small can of yellow dye.  The three of us slipped through the half-submerged doorway and into the sea, paddling away from the sinking plane.  It floated briefly, looking like a swan, all nose and tail, before plunging in a trail of bubbles.  No explosion.

"They're gone," Guthrie said.  The chopper and everything aboard had vanished.  I noticed that he was holding onto me.

"Why?" I asked, meaning all this—or was it his tending me and not Betty.

"The chips," she said, bobbing alongside.

"You want them too?"

"Only to turn them over to the law," Betty said, squeezing water out of her hair.  "Haloworth wants them back bad.  They're an exposé of his smuggling.  And murder.  You'll need another job."

"I have a idea about that," Guthrie said.

"Who do you work for?" I asked.

"I'm IRS," he said.  "She's FBI."

I frowned at Betty.  "You never told me."

"You and I should make time for girl-talk," she said.  "I think we'll both enjoy it, much more than when I had to keep secrets and you were on the enemy's payroll."

No wise-ass smile or cutesy tone, and she held my eyes.  Answers, maybe; honesty, too?  "All this, because of the chips?"

"This should end it."  Guthrie nodded at the empty sea.

The sea did appear empty, and vast.  "Will anyone find us?"

"Coast guard monitors this beacon frequency," Betty said.  "I activated the transmitter on all three lifejackets.  I'm betting half an hour until the first plane.  It'll still be light."

"Who was on board," I asked, nodding in that direction.

"We're pretty sure Greer, Sheridan, Brukowski, and—sorry—your ex, Rich."

A pang of regret silenced me.  Was it for Rich or Greer?  None of them deserved to die that way, but they had been shooting at us.  My list of lovers was shrinking.  "What a team," I whispered.

"Haloworth Enterprises was desperate," Guthrie said.

"It's not over yet," Betty added.  "Haloworth will come after Harper if he doesn't believe the chips went down with the chopper." 

"If they were on board, why'd they shoot at us?" I asked.

"Maybe we knew too much," Guthrie said.  A wave rolled, and he held me close.

"What do I know?" I said, feeling very tiny in the limitless ocean, and beginning to get cold.

"What do you know?" Betty asked. 

The question thing had become tiresome.  "That you two are an item."

"Very little you seem to know," she said, and chuckled.  "So you like him?"

"Not if it'll get me shot at."

"It won't," he said.  "Betty's my sister."

"Sister?"  Now that he'd said it, I did notice the resemblance.

"Same parents."  She matched the words with a sincere glance. 

Guthrie turned so we were close, facing, and his gaze, this time into my eyes, fried little parts I'd thought long dormant.  At once I felt the plastic bag, holding the chips, jammed against a sensitive area in my bra. 
"I could be your bodyguard," he said, dropping his eyes, and I didn't care if he was trying to look through the lifejacket. 

"That would be good."