November 2007

Welcome to the Morgue! For November, we're going to be avoiding any cheap Thanksgiving jokes and getting right to the mysteries, because we have a large group to talk about this month, and not a turkey among them. (Okay, maybe just one...)

There are reviews of 20 mystery novels this month, including books by such favorites as Robert B. Parker, Twist Phelan, Jeff Lindsay and Chris Grabenstein, in a number of sub-genres: thrillers, cozies, hardboileds, and more.

But there's also a penetrating interview with Baron R. Birtcher, author of Hawaii-set novels like Ruby Tuesday and the upcoming Angels Fall in the Mike Travis series.

You'll find a funny and interesting "How I Write" essay by Patrick Hyde, author of The Only Pure Thing, his current Stuart Clay novel. Get some insight into how a creative mind works—and works against the author at the same time.

Take a deep breath and dive in. Just think: next month, you'll be wishing things were this serene.

In this month's issue:

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Baron R. Birtcher
How I Write: Patrick Hyde

Reviews:
Noble Lies by Charles Benoit
The One-Minute Assassin by Troy Cook
Face Down O'er the Border by Kathy Lynn Emerson
Deadly Vintage by Elaine Flinn
Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis
Hell for the Holidays by Chris Grabenstein
Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood
Night Work by Steve Hamilton
An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Kennedy's Brain by Henning Mankell
Now & Then by Robert B. Parker
Bone Rattler by Eliot Pattison
False Fortune by Twist Phelan
Cold Moon Home by Julia Pomeroy
Life Blood by Penny Rudolph
Fit to Die by J. B. Stanley
Murder by the Slice by Livia J. Washburn
When One Man Dies by Dave White
Dead Head by Allen Wyler

Link to Archives

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Baron R. Birtcher

Baron R. Birtcher, a native of Newport Beach, California, and an alumnus of the University of Southern California, spent a number of years as a professional musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He founded an independent record label, and spent 18 years in the commercial real estate business in California.

Growing up, he and a close friend would read crime novels. The friend became a homicide detective and Birtcher, after his experiences in music and real estate, decided it was time to pursue writing his own stories of crime and adventure.

Baron relocated to Hawaii in 1996 to pursue a career as a writer. His first two hardboiled mystery novels, (both with themes that tied in with his musical experience) Roadhouse Blues and Ruby Tuesday, were Los Angeles Times and IMBA Best-Sellers. He has also had the honor of serving as a judge for the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. He is an accomplished public speaker and still a consummate musician.

Interview by Gloria Feit

Obviously living in Hawaii plays a large rule in the Mike Travis series.  How does the environment influence your stories?

As corny as this may sound, I first visited Hawaii at age 10 on a family vacation. From the moment I arrived, saw my first coconut palms, had my first whiff of plumeria blossoms, and saw the clear blue water, I knew I was somewhere magical. Hawaii remained a part of my imagination in every aspect of my growing up, and I promised myself I would live here one day. Now that I have had the privilege of doing so for nearly 12 years, I've found that my affection for these islands has only grown stronger. I find the environment to be a constant source of creative stimulation and spiritual calm. (There's also a never-ending stream of interesting people and stories that come along.)

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

I have never taken any formal writing courses, but have participated in a handful of workshops. I've been extremely fortunate to have learned an enormous amount about both the craft and the business of writing from my editors, publishers, agent, and fellow mystery authors like T. Jefferson Parker, Don Winslow, Randy Wayne White, Gary Phillips and Nichelle Tramble, among a handful of others—each of whom are terrific writers, and generous human beings.

How/when did you become interested in mysteries?

I read my first mystery—the Hardy Boys' Footprints Under the Window, if I recall—when I was nine. I was hooked, and wanted to be Franklin W. Dixon. Imagine my surprise to find out F.W. Dixon wasn't an actual human being. Didn't change my desire to be a writer, though. From there on, I spent time in every mystery bookstore I came across, and was introduced to a succession of incredible writers and books. There's nothing like a well-run independent bookstore.

What did you try writing before your first novel?

Starting immediately after reading the Hardy Boys, I began pounding out short stories about Batman and the Green Hornet on a nifty electric typewriter that belonged to my mom. I made my poor parents and siblings suffer through them, sometimes reading them aloud. They were good sports.  

What did you learn writing Roadhouse Blues?

Wow. Everything. I had the benefit of a very patient editor (a former creative writing professor at a major university) who guided me through the whole shebang: dialogue, pacing, character development.

How long did it take to write? 

The first draft of the manuscript took about nine months to complete. I wrote Roadhouse Blues from an idea that had been germinating in my head for a couple of years. Not knowing any other way to begin—and probably owing to my business background—I began with a detailed outline and took it from there. Interestingly, as I began writing the manuscript, I discovered that the characters sometimes take charge of the story and can take you in directions you didn't expect. To this day, I find that to be the most fun aspect of writing. I feel a genuine fondness for the characters, and they never cease to surprise and entertain me. Readers, too, I hope.

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

My wife and I love to travel, and have had the opportunity to visit much of Europe (my wife is Italian and has a large family living there), Australia, Fiji, Tahiti, Thailand, Singapore, China, Indonesia, Tonga, New Zealand... Still haven't made it to South America or Africa yet, and can't wait to go when we have the time. I think those travels have probably informed my writing in ways I don't even know about—with one exception. When I first conceived of Mike Travis, I placed him on a yacht for the precise reason that it made him mobile. I figured that his travels might provide a catalyst for future books. So far, he's been pretty damned content hanging out in Hawaii. He seems to find plenty of trouble there.

How do you do your research?

I've been lucky to have had access to experts in a number of fields that are always willing to spend some time offering input and expert advice on plot elements. Some things, like the inner-workings of the music business, finance, local goings-on, etc. come from my personal experience. Also, I read constantly when I'm not writing. And, of course, God bless Google.

Where did you get the idea for Mike Travis?

I wanted to create a central character that was both competent and, like the rest of us, flawed. I've always appreciated the hardboiled/noir aesthetic, but wanted to take a different angle on it. Mike never ceases to surprise me with the ease with which he assimilates to violence, but he is also a man who is very much aware of his own shortcomings. I think that, at his core, he seeks a simple, uncomplicated life. Unfortunately, his skills and life experience often put him at odds with that. He'd be a world-class friend, but a dangerous guy to spend too much time with.

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 characters each have aspects of their personalities that reflect my own. Most certainly, I draw from people and situations I observe. It's a fine line, though, in that the author's job is to entertain as well as provide that verisimilitude that allows a reader to be "in" the story. That goes back to the earlier question about the role Hawaii itself plays in the Mike Travis books. Hawaii is a unique place—the most remote island chain on the planet—and is populated by a unique mix of residents. I strive to capture those elements in both character and setting. Hopefully, the result is that you feel a bit of that tropical heat, hear the rain falling, feel a little gust of the trade winds when you spend some time with Mike Travis.

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

For reasons too numerous to mention (and I'm bound to discover I've left somebody out once I've finished answering), the writers that I admire most are (in no particular order) James Lee Burke, Thomas H. Cook, Don Winslow, Andrew Klavan, Nichelle Tramble, T. Jefferson Parker, Randy Wayne White, Kent Anderson, Bob Truluck, Craig Johnson, Gary Phillips, Laurence Shames, Nelson DeMille, and of course, Connelly and Crais. 

Tell us something about your musical background.  Does it play a part in your writing?

I spent a number of years as a professional musician—guitar player, singer and songwriter. Rock and country music, mostly. I found that there were two seemingly disparate aspects of that profession that I enjoyed the most: songwriting (which is a fairly solitary pursuit), and performing live (audience interaction was a blast.) Looking back, it seems that both of those things have informed my writing in different ways. Later, I found myself on the business side of music, and enjoyed that, too. I've always loved the company of creative people, and still do. Oh yeah, and Mike Travis plays guitar in his mellower moments.

Apparently social issues mean a lot to you and find a way into your novels.  Which are the most important to you, and why?

I don't have a pet social issue. There are plenty of them to choose from. The ones that tend to find their way into Mike Travis' world, though, are the more human-oriented: the cruelties inflicted upon the innocent. Both Mike and I find that appalling beyond measure. Obviously, it is difficult not to care deeply about the environment when I find myself waking every day in these islands, seeing the delicate balance that must be honored between man's needs and nature's.

Why do you think Fundamentalist thinking is corrosive?

I am guessing this question comes from the part in Angels Fall where Mike refers to a certain religious cult as "fundamentalism at its most dogmatic."  Without getting too far afield, I will try to give you a cogent answer. To me, fundamentalism is not a mind-set that is reserved exclusively for religion. What I find troublesome is that, by its very nature, fundamentalism attempts to take complex orders of thought and boil them down to "fundamentals." Often, the result is a distortion of the original context from which the "fundamentals" were drawn, and becomes disingenuous. As I said, it's not reserved just for religious thought; I see it just as often in political and social rhetoric. Either way, it seems that it is used for purposes that are more divisive than inclusive, and seeks to exclude rather than find common ground. Blah, blah, blah. Sorry.

 

How I Write: Lots Of Years, Lots Of Drafts, and Even More Humility
by Patrick Hyde

Patrick Hyde is an author and attorney who began his career as a trial lawyer in Pikeville, KY, representing miners and indigents in court actions against pension funds and small coal operators. In 1982 Patrick joined the Special Litigation Division of the U.S. Solicitor of Labor and moved to the Washington, D.C. area.

Patrick went on to become a specialist in internal labor union affairs. Eager to gain more courtroom experience, he left government law practice to found a private D.C. law firm.

His first published work of fiction was "The Suit", carried in the April, 1991 edition of the Washington City Paper. Throughout the nineties Patrick published various criminal law articles. His first novel, The Only Pure Thing, was released in January 2007 and Patrick is presently working on the second novel, Scorpio Rising. Patrick is active in the Mystery Writers of America and has served on the Executive Board and as Vice-President of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, consisting of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

"You must harbor chaos to give birth to a dancing star," or so Nietzsche's Zarathustra proclaimed.  By age 16, I'd obtained the chaos part of the equation, and eagerly awaited the payoff.  My antiwar organizing in Ohio resulted in a harassment arrest, a stormy juvenile trial, and an acquittal that felt like a letdown.  During the course of the trial and proceedings, four students were shot and killed during protests at Kent State University.  My parents decided that I'd finish high school in Boston.  I decided to become a writer.  The chaos had just begun.

Harvard Square in 1970 was awash in sex, drugs and rock & roll.  Anything seemed possible.  A hitchhiker might be a lover minutes later.  Cambridge Commons acid dealers hawked Purple Owsley tablets like they were newspapers hot off the press.  In this setting, I discovered my work ethic.  My drugs of choice were Camel cigarettes, Maxwell House coffee, books, and writing.  I penned page after page of nihilistic drivel, prose that infrequently contained a useful sentence, now a pulp and ink compendium weighing four pounds, fourteen ounces.  I got into a College with a good writing program, eagerly waited the next school year, and lived with a nagging sense that one day soon life might just explode.  And it did.

Four weeks before college started, I found the subject for my first novel.  Joe Hyde died in a single car accident at the end of a 14-hour workday.  He had escaped a Kentucky coal town to serve in the invasion of Normandy, to work for the labor visionary Walter Reuther, and to march with Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez.  He'd been the heavy hitter on a 1970 UAW contract negotiating team that ended a 67-day strike against GM.  After making the evening news in that strike, he wound up in the hospital but ignored the doctor's entreaty to just slow down.  Now my bigger-than-life father lay dead at age 47. 

My first novel is Timecrack, a Seventies story similar to James Agee's classic, A Death In the Family. I didn't presume to be James Agee.  I did presume to write about one of life's great passages, about the shocked landscape that death brings, the instant transformation and sense that nothing would be the same again, and the eventual sense that a departed parent's love can still light the way.  All of this and more guided my life as I finished the first draft, knowing that it would require a lot of rewriting and sifting. 

And rewriting and sifting.  And rewriting and sifting.  Timecrack has never been published because it isn't finished.  I believe its completion day will come when I am a good enough writer to add the final touch. 

I withdrew from the writing program and set about looking for a day job.  In honor of my father's wishes, I lost the long hair and made my way into the legal profession.  My trial practice started in Pikeville, Kentucky, home of the legendary Hatfield family.  I represented coal miners and poor hill people in court actions against pension funds and mine operators.  I worked hard, did a decent job, and found myself in some extreme and threatening situations.  Soon I joined a Special Litigation Division in the federal government and landed in Las Vegas as part of a trial team in pension fund litigation against some of the major mob actors of Twentieth Century America.  I learned many lessons for my writing in this work, but wasn't yet ready to pick up the pen.  After this, I hung out a shingle in the District of Columbia.  I spent many years trying criminal cases, more than 1300 cases and more than 100 trials, in the period when D.C. came to be known as the Murder Capitol of America.  

Finally it happened.  On a later afternoon in arraignment court, I started writing a legal thriller on a laptop during the waiting period.  The courtroom seemed like a place outside of time, where a long-established sadness still unfolded.  I studied the orange-clad stumbling into the well of the court and wrote:  "row after row, they came.  Sullen young men with black stares.  Pawns in a war against civilization..."  My next novel had begun.

Within 90 days I'd written 120,000 words. I knew the book would require a lot of revision.  But I knew the time had finally come.  Now or never.   My life changed and, day by day since then, I am changing and my writing improves by the day. 

It took a while to wind down my law practice and find a new day job that permits a writing life.  But now I'm up and running and have a lot to say.  My first novel, The Only Pure Thing , is the 13th rewrite of my legal thriller.  I learned a lot in writing this novel and don't think the next book will take nearly as long.  Above all, I learned that my writing entails a multi-subjective approach that covers the same space in multiple layers.  Perfecting this approach takes time.  I need to cultivate the humility to work and stay focused until the book is finished.  

Some trial lawyers say that the truth has a ring to it and, if you're looking for the truth, you have to stick it out until you find that ring.  I believe this is true and that it applies to my writing.  Writing is rewriting.  The novel has a right to take its own time.

 

Reviews

Noble Lies
by Charles Benoit
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1590584507
Hardcover, 258 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

After various adventures in a number of other parts of the world, including having served as a Marine during Desert Storm, Mark Rohr finds himself working as a bouncer in a Thai bar when he is fired for overzealously performing his duties.  But the bar's owner and bartender, a long-time friend, steers him onto a job assisting a woman who is looking for her brother a year after the tsunami.

The client offers him $500 a week and a $5,000 bonus if he finds the brother, who Mark believes was either lost to the giant wave or doesn't want to be found.  The quest is complicated by a top gangster who also has a vested interest in finding the brother.  And the race is on along the pirate-infested waters of Thailand and Malaysia.  It is an exciting chase, filled with graphic descriptions of the devastation brought on by the tsunami, as well as the poverty and corruption in the country.

This novel is the third featuring globetrotting Rohr, ranging from Singapore and the Raffles Hotel to Casablanca and Cairo, then to India and elsewhere.  In each, he introduces a number of surprises, and Noble Lies is no exception.  This reader could not even begin to anticipate how he would bring the novel to such a conclusion.

The One-Minute Assassin
by Troy Cook
Capital Crime Press
ISBN: 0977627646
Paperback, 287 pages, $14.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Talk about dirty tricks in politics—this takes the cake: By bumping off potentially leading candidates, one can get elected.  That's the case in this novel. "Tricky Dick" Steel, a lobbyist for a large pharmaceutical company apparently controlled by the Russian Mafia, is one of about 100 gubernatorial candidates in California and his campaign strategy is to literally eliminate leading opponents with the help of two bumbling assassins.

John Black, a rather apolitical private investigator who comes from a Bush- or Kennedy-like family (his mother is a U.S. Senator and his sister the Mayor of Los Angeles and the leading candidate to go to Sacramento in the upcoming election) and his partner are thrust into the fray when an attempt is made on the sister's life.

The author's previous and initial effort was the award-winning 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers.  It would seem he enjoys rather longish titles.  In any event, the present novel is quite different and very readable, developing slowly but surely to a blasting finish.

Face Down O'er the Border
by Kathy Lynn Emerson
Perseverance Press
ISBN: 1880284919
Paperback, 236 pages, $14.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The continuing saga of these characters during the Elizabethan Age moves to Scotland in the year 1577, the year Mary, the Scottish abdicated Queen, is held prisoner in England.  Her 11-year-old son James is heir to the throne and rule is in the hands of a series of regents who keep dying.  Amid this political unrest, Catherine Glenelg is found unconscious down a flight of stairs and her mother-in-law dead on top of her, presumably murdered.

Catherine has no memory of the event and is accused of the murder.  She disappears with the help of her friend, the mysterious Annabel.  Her friend Susanna Appleton travels from Kent to try to rescue her and learn who the real murderer is.  Even if Catherine is found, she won't cross the border without her daughter and son, who is assigned to wait on the boy-king in Sterling Castle.

Thus the stage is set for the unraveling of the mystery of the mother-in-law's death and the rescue of Catherine's eight-year-old son from the castle.  Portrayals of the period are undoubtedly genuine, and the language real for the time and place.  Descriptions of the political conspiracies are intriguing, as is information on the vagaries of Scottish law (for instance, charges against a murderer could be either criminal or civil, and if compensation is paid to the survivor there are no criminal charges brought).

Recommended.

Deadly Vintage
by Elaine Flinn
Perseverance Press
ISBN: 1880284872
Paperback, 264 pages, $14.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

It is always a pleasure to welcome back Molly Doyle, she of the Carmel, CA, antique business, her nearly teenage niece, Emma, her bordering-on-boyfriend, Kenneth Randall, the local police chief, and their sundry and always charming friends. When Molly considers branching out for some business on the side, in addition to running Treasures Antiques, the shop she manages for a friend, and is asked by Carla Jessop, to redecorate the tasting room of her family's prestigious local winery, she jumps at the chance.  The fly in the ointment appears in the person of Carla's pompous nouveau riche husband, roundly disliked by virtually all who know him, who has ugly and public arguments with Molly.  When he is murdered in the midst of a social gathering at the family manse, and Molly is standing right next to him when it happens, not only Molly but Randall are both under suspicion by the sheriff's office (who handle the investigation since it is outside of Randall's jurisdiction), as is, of course, the wife, Molly's client.

Molly, already having "assisted" the police in solving two prior murders in the Carmel area, and given the present circumstances, finds herself thinking "I just might decide to find the killer myself," and when reminded by Emma "I thought you wanted to be an antiques dealer," rather than a detective, responds: "just think about how the two professions seem to work together." 

The equally interesting sub-plot deals with some mysterious postcards received by Molly from different parts of Europe, and how that triggers events that threaten Molly and Emma's relationship.  The book is well written and a very enjoyable read, and gives the reader tantalizing portents of things to come in the next entry.

Dead Heat
By Dick Francis and Felix Francis
G. P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN: 1399154768
Hardcover, 342 pages, $25.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

While the familiar racetrack milieu pervades the latest Francis novel, horses and the track play only a peripheral role.  Center stage is the restaurant business, as one-star Michelin chef Max Moreton becomes embroiled in a mysterious series of events, including several attempts on his life.

Moreton is an owner and master chef at a country restaurant near the Newmarket racetrack.  One Friday night, he cooks at a catered affair for a couple of hundred guests at the track, most of whom, including Max and his employees, suffer from food poisoning that night.  The following day, he also is the chef at a luncheon in a private box at the track when a bomb goes off and kills many persons.  Thus begins a tale.

Max's reputation obviously is at stake, as the authorities close the restaurant for inspection, despite the fact that the meal which caused the poisoning took place elsewhere.  Determined to absolve himself and the restaurant of blame, Max has to find out who is responsible.  The story is plausible and typical of a Francis effort—utterly charming and delightful, with twists and turns and nary a horse race (except for the one suspended by the bomb blast).

Highly recommended.

Hell for the Holidays
by Chris Grabenstein
Carroll & Graf
ISBN: 0786720603
Hardcover, 400 pages, $27.99
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzel

Almost a year ago FBI agent Christopher Miller's daughter Angela came face to face with a very ugly Santa who held a gun to her head (Slay Ride). With Christmas fast approaching, the seven-year old is showing signs of distress, sleep walking and regressing in her language and behavior. Chris and his psychologist wife Natalie make getting her through this trauma their first priority. On Halloween night, Angela's trick-or-treating is interrupted when the son of a customs agent is kidnapped. Fernando Acevedo is a neighbor of the Millers, and Chris pulls out all the stops to bring Carlos home safely.

Chris is an expert in kidnapping cases, having earned the nickname of "Saint Chris" after single-handedly tracking down and rescuing another child earlier in his career. Something about Carlos' kidnapping doesn't ring true, and Chris begins to suspect it had more to do with Acevedo's job than with ransom money.

Alexander Schmitz didn't get a lot out of the Army, but they did teach him to shoot just about every type of weapon there is, including missiles.  He is a follower of Dr. John Tilley, a mega-wealthy hate monger, who has big plans for Alexander's skills and his sharp eyesight.  Dr. Tilley has a huge following, made up of rich bigots who supply him with the cash for high-tech weapons, skilled losers like Schmitz who can fire them, and a legion of redneck skinhead lowlifes who can do the grunt work, and who are totally expendable.  Tilley makes use of the Al Qaeda's tactics, operating in cells scattered all over the country, spouting a fundamentalist doctrine of hate, and targeting events where the public congregate—airports, train terminals, holiday parades and the like.

Chris' investigations turn up evidence that something big is being planned by this group, but his attempts to convince his higher-ups of the danger are in vain.  Timothy McVeigh and his ilk were all but forgotten after 9-11, when Jersey City, Miller's home base, became known among his colleagues as "Terror City" because of the large Muslim population.  Agents are spending countless hours going door-to-door, harassing innocent immigrants about their phone calls home.  Luckily, not everybody in law enforcement brushes Chris off, and he and his friends start a race against time to prevent a disaster with the potential to kill thousands of Americans, including their own families.

This is the second in the Christopher Miller series.  Mr. Grabenstein is also the author of another popular, award-winning series featuring two New Jersey policemen.  The two series are very different, but equally as skillfully written and entertaining.  If you're in the mood for a heart-pounding, page-turning thriller, this is the book for you.

Raisins and Almonds
by Kerry Greenwood
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1590581681
Hardcover, 202 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The ninth book in the series now appears (publication in the US follows no order), bringing the Hon. Phryne Fisher into another world—that of the small but religious Yiddish population of Melbourne, Australia during the period between the two World Wars.  We find her dallying with young Simon Abrahams, son of a wealthy Jew, exposing her to the language and culture of the world of refugees, rabbis, kosher cuisine, chicken soup, Kadimah, the Torah, Kabala and Maimonides.

Simon's father asks Phryne to investigate the strange death of a young religious student in a bookshop owned and operated by one Miss Lee in a property she rents from Simon's father.  She is accused of the murder.  Phryne follows the usual course in the investigation, using all her wiles and helpers--her maid Dot, Bert and Cec the Wobbly cab drivers and Inspector Robinson.  The task is complicated by all kinds of considerations, including alchemy, mysticism and politics, including Zionism.  Phryne has to learn all of the nuances, and even begins to speak a little Yiddish.

While a mystery, the story takes on a very different flavor from that of other novels in the series.  It is not only entertaining in the customary manner of the other books in this series, but is informative and the unexpected descriptions of Yiddish culture are authentic. 

Night Work
by Steve Hamilton
Thomas Dunne Books
ISBN: 0312353612
Hardcover, 294 pages, $23.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In his first standalone, following his wonderful Alex McKnight series, Steve Hamilton introduces Joe Trumbull, a probation officer in Kingston, New York, an upstate city in the Hudson Valley.  He lives in an apartment above a converted bus station now serving as a gym, where he works out every day to try to keep in shape, at which he mostly succeeds.  He describes his job as follows:  "I'm part cop, part social worker, part guidance counselor, part rehab coordinator, part bounty hunter.  Every hour of every day, I'm your official court-designated guardian angel.  I can come to your house on a school-day morning and drag your ass out of bed, because going to school is an absolutely nonnegotiable part of your probation."  He sees himself as helping the kids with whom he works to make something good of their lives when those lives are at a critical juncture.

Just as idealistic is the young woman to whom he is engaged:  she works at a battered women's shelter, and is passionate about her work, up until the day, three days before their wedding, when she is murdered.  Her killer has never been caught.  As the book opens, Joe has been at a sort of disconnect from the life around him, going into work on his day off, feeling "This was where I belonged, no doubt about it, reading over somebody's PSI [pre-sentence investigation] instead of being outside enjoying a perfect August day," when he decides that "after two long years, it was time to start my life again," and is about to embark on a blind date, his first date since the death of his fiancée, who he still refers to as 'my Laurel.'  His date goes remarkably, and unexpectedly, well.  And then the unthinkable happens, followed shortly by the unimaginable.  At which point everything changes, and the book becomes impossible to put down.  The suspense kept this reader glued to the page right up until the ending.  My one complaint was that that ending was almost anticlimactic, and nearly failed to live up to what had preceded it.  Which does not at all inhibit my recommendation of this terrific read.

I particularly enjoyed Mr. Hamilton's protagonist's love of jazz, at one point describing a great saxophone solo "with the perfect smooth tone like the sound of your lover's voice.  It was impossible for someone to play that well, absolutely impossible, but that's the thing about live jazz.  When it comes together it sounds better than you ever could have expected.  As good as anything you've ever heard."  In this, as well as in his fine writing, the author joins another wonderful contemporary mystery author, Michael Connelly—high praise indeed.

I should also reiterate something that's been said before regarding this book:  The flyleaf discloses a spoiler, and the reader is advised to avoid this before beginning the novel.

An Ice Cold Grave
by Charlaine Harris
Berkley Prime Crime
ISBN: 0425217290
Hardcover, 280 pages, $23.95
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

As the author of four series, plus two standalones and one anthology, Harris has been extremely prolific in her writing career.  Her writing has progressed from the fairly comfortable with her Aurora Teagarden mystery series, to the slightly edgy Lily Bard mysteries featuring a protagonist who is a domestic violence survivor, on to the world of the undead with Sookie Stackhouse and finally to the paranormal with Harper Connelly. Although the Sookie books are wildly popular, I think the latest of Harris's series featuring Harper Connelly is her best.

To say that Harper Connelly had an unusual childhood is an understatement. Her youth was spent with an ever-shifting family made up of her parents, stepfather, sister, stepbrothers, and half sisters. As is often the case when the adults in a family fall into a lifestyle filled with vices, the older children assumed the roles of the adults in order to hold the family together. Thus Harper and her stepbrother, Tolliver, bonded in a way most stepsiblings never do.  While this alone would make Harper an interesting protagonist, add to this the fact that she was struck by lightning as a teenager and as a result developed a most unusual talent. She can find dead people and not only that; she is able to "see" the way they died.  It would be easy to paint such books as over the top paranormals, but that would be a serious mistake. These books, featuring Harper Connelly, are well written serious mysteries.

In An Ice Cold Grave, Harper is called to the small community of Doraville, North Carolina to help locate the body of a missing teenager. Though several boys have gone missing over the past few years, the local sheriff assumed that the boys were runaways. When Jeff McGraw disappears, his grandmother puts up the money to have Harper come to help search. What Harper finds though is not just Jeff, but 7 more bodies as well.  The question is, were the killings the work of a single person or not? This is Harper's first case involving a serial killer and as she leans on Tolliver for support, their relationship begins to change.  

An Ice Cold Grave is the third in what will hopefully be a long running series. Grave Sight and Grave Surprise are the first two books featuring Harper Connelly.

Dexter in the Dark
by Jeff Lindsay
Doubleday
ISBN: 0385518338
Hardcover, 368 pages, $23.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Dexter, the totally original and distinctly macabre character created by Jeff Lindsay, is now known to millions of people beyond his readership since the introduction of the cable TV series of that name.  But I daresay one must read the original creation, on the printed page (or, I guess, the computer screen), to fully appreciate him.  As the third book in the series opens, Dexter is about to marry his girlfriend, Rita, to whose two young children he has become mentor (in scary ways).  The marriage is yet another step in his quest to appear outwardly normal to the outside world—as he says: "It would never do to have the sheep see that Dexter is the wolf among them."

If you are not familiar with Dexter, he works as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami P.D., but in his off-hours carries out his passion in his role as vigilante serial killer.  His cop foster father has instilled in him very specific rules:  "Harry had taught me to find and dispose of only those who, by his rigorous cop standards, truly needed it."  The only one aware of Dexter's dark side, other than Rita's kids, is his foster sister, now a full sergeant in homicide, who finds a personal, that is, professional advantage in it: "I had gained a small reputation for my insight into the way the twisted homicidal sickos thought and operated—natural enough, since, unknown to everyone but Deborah, I was a twisted homicidal sicko myself."

The author again gives unspoken voice to Dexter's Dark Passenger, the internal guide to his dark side, but when he is called to the scene of a particularly gruesome murder, his Dark Passenger goes mysteriously silent.  Without the assistance of his inner monster, Dexter doesn't know if he'll be capable of finding and ridding the world of this new and truly awful adversary, someone or something unlike anything he's come up against before, and he finds himself now the hunted, instead of the hunter.

The writing is often comedic (something one wouldn't expect in a book about a serial killer). Witness this musing from Dexter, when discussing the wedding and honeymoon:  "And so there were actually several very good reasons to go through with this—but Paris?  I don't know where it came from, this idea that Paris is romantic.  Aside from the French, has anyone but Lawrence Welk ever thought an accordion was sexy?  And I would have thought that by now it would be clear that they don't like us there, and they all insist on speaking French, of all things," reflecting on "the land of Rousseau, Candide and Jerry Lewis."

The alliteration in the titles of the three books in this series continues in the narrative, usually keeping with the "d's," hence Dark Daddy Dexter, Demon Dexter, etc., which one would think might be irksome but was instead fun.  I did find disconcerting the author's use of both third person and first person, with Dexter referring to himself in the same paragraph as both "I" and "Dexter," but that's just a minor annoyance.  The sardonic tone used throughout takes the edge off what might otherwise be just another serial killer book, but this is anything but.  This series has been called ironic, sinfully entertaining, inventive—it is all those things and more, and is recommended.

Kennedy's Brain
by Henning Mankell
The New Press
ISBN: 1595581846
Hardcover, 328 pages, $26.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Henning Mankell has written 37 novels, with perhaps the nine Kurt Wallender mysteries best known in the United States.  The present novel, while a mystery of sorts, really is a polemic based on the author's frustration with the poverty and disease rampant on the African continent.  Indeed, it is a written indictment of the greed that is an inherent part of the African AIDS crisis.

Swedish archaeologist Louise Cantor returns home from her job of supervising a Greek dig to find her only son lying in his bed, dead.  An autopsy shows the 28-year-old full of sleeping pills, and his death is ruled a suicide.  Louise refuses to accept the ruling, believing his death was a murder, and embarks on retracing his various trails to discover the "truth."  It takes her to Barcelona, where the son had a secret apartment, to Australia to find her ex-husband, and then to Maputo, Mozambique.  Along the way she finds out her sun was HIV positive.

Bit by bit, Louise learns how little she knew about her son.  In Mozambique she learns an awful truth about an AIDS hospice, and possibly its link to the son's death.  Also, there appear to be links between the AIDS epidemic and Western pharmaceutical interests, giving the author more reason to raise criticism.  This book is not a joy to read, despite how well-written it is, but then it is not meant to be.  While it is a story full of mysteries, it is not the kind of tale a Wallender novel would be.  It is more of a psychological inquiry with social overtones.

Now & Then
by Robert B. Parker
G. P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN: 0399154416
Hardcover, 304 pages, $25.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Who would have thought Spenser would allow his past romantic frustration over the temporary separation from his long-time paramour, Susan, to influence his decisions on a case?  But faced with a client's adulterous situation, the hard-boiled Boston PI finds himself in exactly that position.  Retained by an FBI agent to learn whether his wife is having an affair, Spenser discovers the truth.

When both the client and the wife are found murdered, Spenser can't let go, remembering when Susan left him many years before to be with another man and the pain it caused him. So he pursues the case to find the killer—even at the expense of endangering Susan.  To protect her, we are entertained by his bringing in the troops—Hawk (of course), Vinnie and Cholo.

This novel is Parker (and Spenser) at their accustomed best.  No more has to be said.  The wisecracks flow, the plot flies and the dialogue is witty and poignant.  Highly recommended.

Bone Rattler
by Eliot Pattison
Carroll and Graf
Hardcover, 464 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0786719198
Reviewed by Janet Koch

It is 1759. England is at war with France, the British colonies are still firmly English, Thomas Jefferson is only 16 years old, slavery is commonplace—and European civilization ends a three-day ride past the Hudson River.

This is the world into which Scotsman Duncan MacCallum is flung when he leaves the convict ship that carried him away from a hated England. The passage, from which he'd nearly committed suicide to escape, had been fraught with danger and fear. A former medical student, Duncan was offered a bargain—identify a shipboard killer as one of his fellow Scots prisoners or be sent to the Jamaica sugar plantations where slaves rarely live longer than two years.

As he straddles this dilemma, Duncan begins to realize how much of a pawn he is. The ship's crew won't answer his questions, the Company that owns his indenture has a use for him he does not understand, and upon arrival in New York he finds the English army wants information he does not have. Duncan, caught in deep currents that are pulling him down, struggles to gain every possible bit of knowledge, for "confusion had become his new disease."

Fear scorches the pages of Bone Rattler. Fear of rats chewing your toes in the night, fear of Indian savages that seem to lurk behind every tree, fear of demons, fear of starvation, fear of illness. All those and more, but above all, fear of the unknown—and here, everything is unknown.

"No good thing ever comes out of violence," Duncan is told by an elderly Indian. But the New World is overflowing with murder and mayhem. Duncan must navigate his way through a sea of warfare to find even the smallest chance of peace for himself and for the woman he is coming to love.

Eliot Pattison, winner of a Best First Novel Edgar Award for The Skull Mantra, blends fact and fiction in a novel that is compulsively readable. Each of the large cast of characters has an important part to play and Pattison has clearly researched the period extensively. The end result is a transportation to another time.

As stated in the Author's Notes, "traveling to the American wilderness was like traveling to another planet." Bone Rattler is a fascinating glimpse into a period of colonial North America most of us know far too little about.

False Fortune
by Twist Phelan
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1590583630
Hardcover, , 292 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In her fourth entry in the Pinnacle Peak mystery series, Twist Phelan brings back her indomitable protagonist, Hannah Dain, the attorney who recently started her life anew in Arizona to join the firm of Dain & Daughters, specializing in business law.  Besides the fact that they are both attorneys, Hannah also shares with her creator a love of outdoor sports, her prior books in the series involving team roping, road and mountain biking, and rock climbing, each of which figures prominently in her plots.  This time around Hannah's love of kayak paddling provides the focus around which much of the action revolves, along with the dynamics of convoluted sibling relationships

Hannah's sister, Shelby Dain, has asked her assistance in handling a case on which she is co-counsel, a toxic tort case involving radiation contamination and payment of nuclear waste reparations to the Indian tribe part of whose reservation is on the contaminated land.  The storage of such waste was voluntary on the part of the tribe at the time, pre-casino and when poverty was rampant on the "rez," since storage fees and jobs resulted from the agreement.  Now birth defects and cancers are destroying lives, and compensation and an admission of guilt are sought.  As the book opens the government has conceded liability, and it seems to be merely a question of monetary damages being fixed.  But Hannah's involvement stirs up unforeseen dangers, and an apparent suicide, various threats to Hannah and those around her, both explicit and otherwise, lead to a exciting tale filled with fascinating glimpses of life on and around the desert and Indian lore and customs (both Native American and those of India).  As Hannah muses at one point:  "Car in the lake, boat stolen, nearly buried alive—not a good week."   In the midst of this her teenaged half-sister, of whose existence Hannah was till recently unaware, appears literally on her doorstep—an utterly charming budding scientist who believes in Martians and ghosts and Hindu curses.

The writing is terrific, and wonderfully evocative:  "A mile from shore she abruptly let up, letting the kayak drift while she enjoyed the heaviness of tired muscles.  She laid her paddle across her knees and let her feet drop into the water.  Her toes brushed against the iciness that marked the end of the sun's reach.  Still straddling the kayak, Hannah lay back until her head rested on the deck.  She felt the boat move up and down, as thought the lake were breathing.  Early stars blinked at her like tiny eyes.  Out of range of the insects' cacophony, she heard only air."  I was particularly won over by one of the characters, a charming cowboy whose standard departing words are "Shalom, y'all."  A very good read, and one that is recommended.

Cold Moon Home
by Julia Pomeroy
Carroll & Graf
ISBN: 0786719815
Hardcover, 330 pages, $26.99
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In the sequel to her earlier novel featuring Abby Silvernale, Julia Pomeroy's protagonist finds herself involved in a rather bizarre incident:  Driving home after finishing work late one night at the InnBetween, in the fictional upstate New York Hudson Valley town of Bantam, where she is a waitress, she comes upon the scene of an automobile accident, where the driver of the car (which has gone down an embankment) has staggered onto the roadway.  Of course Abby stops to see how she can help.  The dazed young woman, who identifies herself as Germaine LeClair, asks Abby to drive her to her father's house, and then to wait for her for a few minutes.  Abby does as she is asked, and then disbelievingly witnesses Germaine confronting a cane-wielding old man (apparently her father) with a gun before having the gun knocked out of her hand and then stumbling back to Abby's car, whereupon Abby agrees to take her to the home of friends with whom she is staying.  Bizarre indeed.

The following day Abby decides to supplement her always too-small earnings with a part-time job as secretary/assistant, or amanuensis (a seldom-used but lovely old word), as it is put to her, for a once wealthy ninety-two-year-old sculptor suffering from Alzheimer's.  In a what-a-small-world coincidence (this is, after all, a small town), the old man is none other than the same person she has seen the night before, Germaine's father.  Actually, he is apparently her adoptive father, and Abby discovers the reason for the confrontation is that Germaine has recently been told, anonymously of course, that the man killed his wife, her adoptive mother, who has been dead for twenty years, of cancer, she had thought.

An unlikely-seeming friendship of sorts has developed between the two women, and Abby gets involved in the search for the truth behind the mother's death, trying to determine whether she had indeed been murdered, not an easy task twenty years after the fact.  Further complicating her life are her inability to commit to a relationship with her handsome lover, from whom she wants nothing but a weekly tryst, and problems caused by a newly hired worker at the restaurant.  Widowed and thirty-two years old, Abby is an interesting protagonist.  The book is entertaining and well written, and is recommended.

Life Blood
by Penny Rudolph
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 1590583463
Hardcover, 326 pages, $24.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Rachel Chavez, the protagonist in this new novel by Penny Rudolph, is unusual in at least one respect:  she runs a parking garage she has inherited from her grandfather in downtown LA, one that does not cater to the public but leases space to nearby businesses.  One night she finds a locked van in the garage, inside of which are two young Mexican boys, both unconscious.  When Rachel drives them to the emergency room of a local hospital, she is told that one of the boys is dead and the other severely dehydrated.  When she returns the next day to see how the boy is, she is told there is no record of either boy ever having been there.

Rachel is not the kind of woman to let this rest, and is determined to find out how the boys, or their records, could have simply disappeared.  She wonders if their being Mexican enters into the equation.

Her personal life is in problematical shape, with her ambivalence toward the man to whom she has recently become engaged (being engaged isn't the problem, but getting married is), trying to get information from her less-than-forthcoming father about her Mexican heritage, and the prospect of losing a major tenant at the garage.  The latter problem is unexpectedly solved when the same local hospital signs a contract to lease over one hundred spaces for its employees as well as use of the helipad located on the roof, in what is seemingly coincidental timing.

The characters in the book are all too human—Rachel is a recovering alcoholic, her father a habitual gambler, with all the attendant problems to which that addiction gives rise.  Rachel's friends are also very interesting creations: one is a street person, an elderly woman who for some reason has a cell phone, the other the head of a cleaning service who knows—or can find out—much of what there is to know in the neighborhood.  The author has given us a believable, well-plotted mystery peopled with fascinating characters, including a couple of red herrings.  Suspenseful and thoroughly enjoyable, the book is recommended.

 

Fit to Die
by J.B. Stanley
Midnight Ink
Trade paperback, 232 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 0738710679
Reviewed By Kevin R. Tipple

This second book in the supper club mystery series brings readers back to the small town of Quincy's Gap, Virginia.  Home of James Henry, Lucy (an object of romance for Henry if he can just work up his nerve), Lindy, Gillian and Bennett—who together are known as the Flab Five. For the group food and dieting is a constant issue.  The recent holidays were less than helpful and with spring in the air, they all know that they need to work on their diets.

As it happens, Veronica Levitt has moved to their town and is about to open "Witness to Fitness." Combining exercise and foods bought through her, the persuasive and vibrant Veronica "Ronnie" Levitt promises to make the Flab Five leaner, stronger and definably sexier within the next six weeks.  All they, and her other customers have to do is join her program at "Witness to Fitness" by eating her food, keeping a food journal, attending counseling and weighting sessions and attending at least three exercise classes a week and it isn't going to be cheap. Not only will it cost serious money there are absolutely no refunds.

Also new to Quincy's Gap is Willy Kendrick, who owns and operates the new "Chilly Willy's Polar Pagoda."  Willy intends to sell all types of detectable ice creams and treats which sets him quickly at odds with various parties including Veronica Levitt.

Before long, constant discussions of food make way for discussions of arson and murder, the Flab Five begin once more to investigate and put themselves in harm's way.

Featuring several secondary storylines, this cozy style mystery is very slow to get going.  Much of the first half of the book is taken up constant discussion and consideration of food and dieting.  Virtually every paragraph covers something good to eat, motivation to diet, how hard it is to diet, etc.  Much like late night television where commercial after commercial announces tempting choices at this fast food restaurant or other (open later that ever before thank you very much) there is constant repetition about food bordering on obsession.

It is only after crimes have happened and authorities don't seem to have any basic curiosity into matters that the characters finally show that they have quite a lot going on besides food obsessions. 

The result is an entertaining read though difficult to stomach for those of us who do suffer the joys and perils of dieting.  The characters are interesting and real, the case is interesting though rather obvious to seasoned readers, and ultimately happily resolved in the way preferred by cozy readers everywhere. Depending on your personal reading tastes, this might just hit the spot or be a little too sweet and sugary.

Murder by the Slice
by Livia J. Washburn
Obsidian Mystery
ISBN: 0451222503
Paperback, 272 pages, $6.99
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Phyllis Newsom, widowed and retired former schoolteacher, has been involved as an amateur sleuth before, and in this new entry in the Fresh Baked Mystery series she again becomes embroiled in a murder mystery when Shannon Dunston, the twice-divorced head of the Parent-Teacher Organization, is found dead in the midst of a fund-raising carnival at the local high school.  Phyllis had agreed to assist in the event, as had the boarders who share her house with her, retired schoolteachers all: Carolyn Wilbarger (who Phyllis managed to exonerate as a suspect in the earlier murder by solving that crime), Eve Turner, divorced and ever-flirting—especially with the last and newest resident of the house, Sam Fletcher.  Helping—or complicating—matters is the fact that Phyllis' son, Mike, as a Sheriff's deputy in the small Texas town where they live.

Although the dead woman was heartily disliked for her high-handed ways, Phyllis finds herself thinking "...the idea that Shannon would never even have the opportunity for things to get better angered Phyllis.  It wasn't right.  No one deserved to have their future ripped away like that.  Maybe she could help the sheriff's department find out who had killed Shannon.  Maybe it was her duty as a human being," and "If that made her a meddling old woman, then so be it."  She enlists Sam's help, and wonders "if he believed she got mixed up in murder investigations for the thrill of it.  In truth, she had pondered that same question herself.  She told herself that wasn't the way it was, but at times, doubt nibbled at her mind.  Maybe she liked playing detective a little too much."  Of course, her efforts succeed, and justice is done.  Along the way, there are intimations of budding romantic interest between Phyllis and Sam, and much talk of recipes (there is a baking contest and a contest for the best low-cal, low-fat recipes at the carnival), and in fact several recipes are included in the back of the book.  There is some clunky writing (e.g., Phyllis' son, Mike, thinking "a lawman couldn't afford to lose his temper"), but in all this is an interesting tale, and (if you don't count the murder) a light-hearted and fun read.

When One Man Dies
by Dave White
Three Rivers Press
ISBN: 0307382788
Paperback, 288 pages, $13.95
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

While sitting in his favorite bar drinking beer, PI Jackson Donne, the bartender and everyone else heard a loud crash outside.  A popular fellow drinker was hit by a car that sped away.  A possible hit-and-run, but the more everyone thinks about it they think it probably was a homicide.  The owner/bartender tells Donne that the victim was their friend, and implores him to find the perpetrator.

Thus begins a complicated tale involving corrupt police, a cop with a grudge against Donne, drug traffickers and lots of violence.  Donne is warned off the investigation by his former partner on the police force, but he has promised to go on, so he does.  Meanwhile he accepts another assignment, and somehow as things progress, the two cases seem to overlap.

The story develops, moving slowly to its finale.  But the past continues to haunt the present.  Donne is the typical hard-boiled PI found throughout the genre, as well as a punching bag too often.  For fans of the genre, it is a very satisfying read.

 

Dead Head
by Allen Wyler
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
Paperback, , 342 pages, $7.99
IBSN: 0765355965
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

When Russell Lawton travels from Baltimore to San Francisco, his concern focuses on his conference presentation about manipulating robotic monkey hands using brain waves and computers.  His research is taking him on the beginning of a path that he hopes will one day lead to bionic help for paralyzed humans, but that is far in the future.  Meanwhile he has an interesting job, a lovely 8-year-old daughter and a somewhat problematic ex-wife.

His presentation complete, he wanders out of the hall, deciding which sessions to sit in on and is accosted by an attractive female science writer who wants to do an article on his work.  They decide to continue their conversation in a quieter location and leave the convention center together.  And in just that short an interval Russell Lawton is ripped out of his normal life and plunged into a nightmarish world where he is expected to accomplish the impossible—connect the head of a dying terrorist to life support and to computer software that can generate speech from his brainwaves.  In response to his assertion that such a feat is impossible, his abductor informs Russell that the price of failure is the life of his daughter.  She will be buried alive and allowed to slowly suffocate.

This novel is definitely a thriller.  There is no mystery.  We know who the villains are—the terrorists, the authorities and time, as the injured terrorist slips toward death before the bizarre attempt can be completed.  It is a high speed and engrossing plot.  And if some of the science seems to verge on science fiction, Wyler includes an afterword, detailing the documented medical experiments on which his story is based.  The author is a noted neurosurgeon and his plot twists and turns have the ring of authenticity.

Like most thrillers, there is not a lot of time spent on character development, beyond what is absolutely required by the plot.  The reader, however, gets so involved with the action that it is not missed.

Dead Head is a good read in addition to providing some interesting ideas to contemplate about a possible future in experimental medicine.