Nothing But the Truth

The Other Woman by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge hardcover, 4 September 2012).

"Jane Ryland had thrown up after the verdict."

 That verdict had cost her her job, and some of her dignity, but not her integrity. 

She'd been going places as a television news reporter, until she was asked to reveal a source and refused.  But integrity didn't pay the bills, and after a few weeks of feeling sorry for herself, she'd accepted a job with the Boston Register, vowing to scoop her former employer.

Her first assignment was to interview Moira Lassiter, wife of a senate candidate and former governor.  Mrs. Lassiter seemed to have disappeared from view, and her staff was stonewalling attempts to talk to her.

Meanwhile, Jane's friend Jake Brogan, a homicide detective, was dealing with what appeared to be a series of murders near bridges around Boston.  After only two deaths, the media was already attributing them to the "Bridge Killer",  although Jake's instincts tell him they're not related.

When they meet tracking down a witness, Jane and Jake discover that their assignments are related and begin to compare notes.  It's difficult to provide more plot details without spoilers, but be warned that you won't be able to read "just one more chapter".  Don't start this book at bedtime!

Emmy-winning investigative reporter Ryan knows the news business firsthand, and writes about it with expertise.  Of course her skill as a suspense author (for which she's also won a number of awards) helps a great deal, as does her ability to create believable, multi-dimensional characters.

The attraction between reporter and detective creates a problem for someone who's trying to protect her professional integrity.  Although Jake understands this, he does realize the potential for a great relationship, and attempts to convince Jane that it's possible to pursue it without compromising that integrity.

This is just a great, well-told story that you won't want to put down.  Don't start it at bedtime.





Please visit Crime Fiction Collective, where Ms. Ryan is guest-blogging today.  Also, if you leave a comment over there, you'll be entered to win a first edition of The Other Woman.

Hockey season is over

Yes, it's true. Hockey season ended last Monday when the Los Angeles Kings dramatically won the Stanley Cup. To make that hockey feeling last a little longer, I decided to read and review a book with a hockey thread.

The Skeleton Box (A Starvation Lake Mystery) by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone/Simon and Schuster hardcover, 5 June 2012).

Homes in Starvation Lake are being burgled while the residents are at bingo.  Six houses have been broken into, but nothing appears to have been stolen.  The sheriff's department is flummoxed, and the populace is becoming restless.

As if things weren't bad enough, Deputy Darlene Bontrager Esper's mother Phyllis is killed while sitting with Gus Carpenter's mother Beatrice, who's having health issues.  Gus can't tell if his mother is having trouble answering questions about the incident because of her dementia or other, more personal reasons.

A voice-mail message left on Darlene's cell phone by Phyllis provides a clue for Darlene and Gus:  a word that sounds like "nye-less".   With the help of his reporter Luke Whistler, who left Detroit and the Free Press for health reasons, Gus begins to investigate a story that is much more complex than it first appears.

The hockey connection in this series is that Gus was the goaltender for the River Rats, the local youth team when he was a teen.  He is (in)famous for allowing the goal that lost the Rats the state championship in the 1970s.  After some legal trouble working as a reporter in Detroit, Gus returned to his hometown, and now plays for the Chowder Heads of the Midnight Hour Men's League and, oh yes, working as the executive editor of the local newspaper, the Pine County Pilot.

Bryan Gruley brings the small northern Michigan town and its inhabitants to vivid life.  The mystery is a complex one, and even those who know nothing of hockey will be drawn into the tangled web of small-town history and politics.

It's not necessary to have read the previous books in the series to understand this one, but a reader who starts with The Skeleton Box will definitely be eager to read Starvation Lake (2009) and The Hanging Tree (2010).


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to review.

Countdown to Left Coast Crime - 17 days

Fall From Grace by Wayne Arthurson.

Leo Desroches is a reporter for an Edmonton newspaper.  When we first meet him, at a crime scene in a field just outside the city, we are told little else, except that he has A Past.  We learn more about him slowly, as the story develops.  Since the narrative is in the first-person from Leo's viewpoint,  he controls when and what information we receive.

One of the first things he shares is that he is a descendant of the people who settled the area,  not just those who came from Europe to hunt and trap, but those who crossed the Bering Strait, the aboriginals.  We soon learn that he knows little of the native side of his heritage, his mother having only recently acquired treaty status.

The book opens as he is invited by the ranking detective (in a move atypical for most law enforcement personnel) to view a murder scene in which the victim is a young native woman named Grace Cardinal.   When his editor learns of this, he assigns Leo to write a story that shows the humanity of the victim.

Completely coincidentally, the newspaper (which is never named) appoints Leo as their Aboriginal Issues reporter, and he meets people who had known Grace before she became a prostitute.  As he delves into Grace's background, he realizes that there might be much more to the story than he'd first imagined.

At the same time as he's investigating Grace's murder, he is attempting to rebuild his own life.  Exactly why this rebuilding is necessary is also shared with us a little at a time, but it's not a spoiler to reveal that Leo once had a gambling problem, which caused his wife to divorce him and distance herself and their children from him.  One of the reasons that Leo is working so hard to succeed at the newspaper is the possibility of rebuilding a relationship with his son and daughter.

As well as being a well-constructed mystery and an extremely well-written story, Leo's story  rings true to someone who grew up in the Edmonton area.  Although Leo's editor would fire me for drifting into personal territory, I have experienced the bitterly cold winters and have seen the inner-city homeless (both native and non) huddling in the foyers of buildings to keep from freezing to death. 

It is very true that aboriginals who have visibly native features are treated very differently from others, and Arthurson handles the delicate subject matter with tact and grace.  The continuing adventures of Leo Desroches are eagerly anticipated.

Photo by Maki Blazevski.

Wayne Arthurson is an aboriginal writer from Edmonton, Alberta. He has worked for newspapers, magazines, advertising companies, and as a freelance writer and ghostwriter. His first crime novel Fall From Grace was published in 2011, and the follow-up, A Killing Winter will be published in Spring 2012.

Just finished reading...

The Perfect Suspect by Margaret Coel.*

Margaret Coel is well known for her Wind River mystery series (now numbering 15 titles), which take place on the real Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming, and feature sleuths Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley.

The Perfect Suspect, however, is part of a completely different series featuring journalist Catherine McLeod, which takes place in Denver.

The story begins with Denver police detective Ryan Beckman facing off with her lover, David Mathews. They've been having an affair, we learn, which David has broken off. Ryan has gone to his home to ask him to reconsider. He refuses, and Ryan shoots him.

We learn this in the first sentence of the book, so this is not a plot spoiler.

What Beckman doesn't realize until she's leaving Mathews' house is that she's been seen, though she doesn't know by whom. Meanwhile, Catherine McLeod gets an anonymous phone call at the newspaper office naming the detective as the killer.

Knowing the identity of the killer at the beginning of the book doesn't make this book any less suspenseful or enjoyable. The plot becomes an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse between journalist and detective.

Of course, since it's a Catherine McLeod mystery, we must assume that Catherine wins the game. But we don't know for sure until the end of the book if Catherine succeeds in proving that Beckman is the killer. Nor do we know whether or not Beckman gets away with her crime.

This gripping mystery keeps the reader guessing all the way through, and the answer is not revealed until the very end. Catherine is a wonderful character, and it's to be hoped that there will be more books about her!


*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.