FFB Review: "Old Silver--A Michael Tanner & Mary Whitney Mystery" by Carl Brookins

If all has gone right this post has appeared shortly after midnight and that means it is Friday. That means it is time for Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by the wonderful Patti Abbott over at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/ It has been a pleasure to be part of things on her blog.…

Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney return in this top flight cozy mystery set for most part on the waters of Lake Superior.  It is there that while sailing with friends Mary Whitney during a snorkeling trip finds and brings to the surface an old metal plate, probably from the boiler, stamped with the word “Amador” on it.  Little does she know that it comes from a ship that sank during a storm in 1905 and theoretically went down somewhere off Sand Island which is nowhere near where she has recovered the plate.

Packed with cargo and family heirlooms of the deVoles the sinking caused a search to be mounted more than once but nothing was found.  By finding the plate, Mary has stumbled across an old mystery and possibly a reference point for the shipwreck.  The ship went down 100 years ago taking some dark secrets with it.  As Mary and Michael start asking a few questions and a person cataloging a recent donation of papers from the family is killed, it becomes clear that there is certainly at least one if not several secrets that someone is trying to keep hidden. Whomever is behind the scenes orchestrating events seems to be willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to prevent them from coming out.

Opposite in tone and style from his novel, The Case of the Greedy Lawyers, humor is in short supply in this cozy style novel.  Most of the violence happens off scene with the majority of the focus on asking questions from a variety of sources and suspects.  This novel slowly builds a chain of clues together as Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney hunt for the shipwreck itself as well as the family secrets.  Old Silver--A Michael Tanner & Mary Whitney Mystery is an engrossing 259 page read in large paperback with a great depth of detail, rich characterizations, and a very good mystery tale.

Old Silver--A Michael Tanner & Mary Whitney Mystery

Carl Brookins

http://www.carlbrookins.com

Top Publications, Ltd. Co

2005

Large Trade Paperback

ISBN# 1-929976-32-1

Kevin R. Tipple © 2006, 2012