Who bumped off Bubbles?

REVIEWS BY BRUCE TIERNEY

British police detective Harriet Martens (aka "The Hard Detective" and protagonist of a book by the same title) returns for an encore performance in H.R.F. Keating's cracking new novel A Detective in Love. In the wee hours before dawn, Martens is aroused by an urgent phone call or, more precisely, let's say that she was already in a state of some arousal, rudely interrupted by the insistent ringing of the phone. Disengaging herself from her amorous significant other, Martens answers the phone and is shocked into silence. It seems that wildly popular tennis star Bubbles Xingara, perhaps the most adored Brit since Princess Di, has been murdered on the grounds of her rural estate. The task of investigating the crime has been delegated to Harriet Martens, and with Wimbledon in the offing, the eyes of the world will be upon her. So why title the book A Detective in Love, you might ask. Well, it seems that Martens has developed an infatuation for her second-in-command, Detective Inspector Brent, and if that is a bit unsettling to the reader, it is a total bolt out of the blue to intrepid "Hard Detective" Martens, otherwise a happily married wife and mother. (Indeed, Cupid's darts are a recurring theme throughout.) Keating's novels are among the final holdouts of the traditional British mystery. A treat for anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie novels, they are cleverly plotted, wickedly eccentric and filled with the sort of characters oft referred to as "odd ducks."


On the trail of a smear campaign

Starving artist Danny Cray, protagonist of John Case's latest novel The Eighth Day, supplements his limited income by doing part-time private investigative work for a Washington, D.C., agency. At 26, his art career seems stalled, a situation exacerbated by the screaming financial success of his portfolio manager girlfriend. So, when he is offered a job investigating a smear campaign against a reclusive billionaire, Danny jumps at the chance for some instant cash gratification. Before he is done, the strange case will lead him to the Vatican library, then to Istanbul, then to a labyrinthine ancient city in the east of Turkey. As the journey unfolds, however, Danny begins to realize that the "smear campaign" he was hired to expose is but a tiny piece of a deeper conspiracy involving religious zealots, high ech espionage and murder. Some writers excel at character development, some are superb wordsmiths; John Case is all about pace. It's as if the word "relentless" were invented just for him. Readers of John Grisham, James Patterson and Robert Ludlum will find Case right up their alley.

Tip of the ice pick

The December award for best mystery goes to Northern Irish writer Jo Bannister for her second installment in the Brodie Farrell mysteries, True Witness. In the small English seaside town of Dimmock, single mom Brodie Farrell operates "Looking for Something?"—a search service designed to help folks find missing people or objects. Brodie's young daughter is spending the night with Daniel Hood, a close family friend and amateur astronomer. Together, they intend to use his telescope to view the rings of Saturn. Instead, Daniel witnesses a brutal beating, and despite his best efforts at lifesaving, the victim dies. The case bears marked similarities to the decade-old unsolved serial killings of three boys; a local sheep rancher is the chief suspect, but the evidence has been inconclusive and insufficient to indict. Daniel Hood is the best hope of the police with respect to this most recent killing, but when he looks at the mug books, he is unable to make a positive identification. Refusing to budge under intense pressure from a belligerent policeman and the townspeople of Dimmock, Daniel Hood becomes a marked man. When his house is set afire, Daniel disappears, and Brodie Farrell is drawn deeply into a murder mystery that has been an undercurrent in Dimmock for 10 years or more. Bannister has virtually single-handedly revamped the traditional "English cosy" mystery genre with such disparate elements as pedophilia, police brutality and single motherhood. Her characters, particularly the protagonists, are well-drawn and quirkily engaging. The plotting is excellent, the denouement a surprise. But it is the seamless way in which she weaves characterizations, dialogue and plot development together that best demonstrates her strength as a writer. (Don't miss the series opener, Echoes of Lies.)


© 2002 ProMotion, inc.
www@bookpage.com