1st in a series: Dave Gurney, Retired NYC Homicide, Upstate NY2010, Crown Publishers
BC Library
418 pgs.
Just wonderful writing and storytelling (5)
1st sentence/s: "Jason Strunk was by all accounts an inconsequential fellow, a bland thirty-something, nearly invisible to his neighbors --- and apparently inaudible as well, since none could recall a single specific thing he'd ever said."
Setting: Upstate NYC, somewhere in the Catskills near Cooperstown, winter.
This is John Verdon's first book, ever. It looks like he was a big wig in an advertising firm in NYC, which doesn't even sound like it might be related to homicide investigations. Well, I don't know what he's best at...intricate, clever storytelling, or writing beautiful prose. He even used a couple of words that were new to my word bank! He's created a fascinating protagonist and allows the reader to get completely into his head. There's an element of psychology in the story that I usually wrinkle my nose at, but this was fascinating. I couldn't wait to curl up with this story.
Dave Gurney's old college friend, Mark Mellery, discovers that they live fairly near each other in the Catskills of upper New York state and comes to visit him with a perplexing problem. He's been receiving weird poems in the mail - poems that are threatening and ominous. Gurney is a retired police wiz from New York City who has an uncanny knack of putting clues together. His relationship with his wife, Madeline, is a bit rocky. She's ready for him to retire, not be pulled back into his old life, where is becomes obsessed with his cases. They're only in their late forties, and do seem to love each other. There's background "stuff" though - a previous marriage with one grown son for him and a son who died in an accident at three years old for the two of them.
The mystery is complex and fascinating!
The second book in the series, Shut Your Eyes Tight, has already been published and the third, Let the Devil Sleep, will come out in July. Can't wait to read them.
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