I first told you about
this book back in 2008. Anything by Carl Brookins is guaranteed to be a good
read. He has had a lot more books come out since. For the rest of the reading
suggestions today, head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet
Freedom Blog. FFB Review wise, see you all after Bouchercon 2019!
As Director of the Office of Student Life at City College of
Minneapolis located in a number of buildings scattered across downtown Minneapolis
Along the way he has found time to begin building a
relationship with Lori, a young lady in another department. There are issues
there as well and they are trying to keep things as quiet as possible. Not
because they are doing anything wrong but because people will talk and gossip
can kill your career in a heartbeat in the world of academia.
Jack Marston has also found the time to indulge in his
desire to act on stage. The College will be presenting Ibsen’s play, “Enemy of
the People” and as Ibsen is a personal favorite, Marston is hoping for some
minor role after he auditions. Instead, the young bitter director from the
University across town selects him for the major role as Dr. Stockman, the
enemy of the people. Marston knows he is overmatched and he also knows he has
absolutely no way of getting out of it.
The same is true when the President of the College, Arthur
Trammel assigns him the role of police liaison after a student is found murdered
and dumped in the lobby of the theater. While Jack Marston would have had some
contact possibly with the media once the story gets out, President Arthur
Trammel expects him to do far more. Tapped for being discreet and with a
mandate to assist the police with their investigation any way possible so that
they quickly close the case because there is a fund drive and other issues at
stake, Marston has no choice and must accept his new role for however long it
takes. When not working on his role in the play, Marston plays his other role
of investigator. He starts with the troubling fact that the entire record of
the deceased student has vanished from the computer system. The dead student no
longer exists in the system. If he can figure out who did it and why that might
point him in the direction of who committed the murder as opposed to the Police
who seem to going in other directions. As the days turn into weeks and another
death rocks the campus, Marston is led down a trail of lies, office politics,
perversion and murder, until a violent confrontation in a snowstorm just outside
his office puts everything he has worked for at risk.
Featuring some cutting humor about the joys of working at intuitions
of higher learning, this cozy style mystery steadily ratchets up the suspense
factor. Jack Marston has more than a cynical humor working for him and readers
who work in academia will find themselves often nodding in agreement.
Couple that with an engaging writing style that quickly
pulls readers into a world populated with interesting real life characters, a
constantly changing mystery full of expected and unexpected twists, and plenty
of action as Jack Marston gets out and gets his hands dirty investigating, this
read is a real treat to start off the year. As in his other books and short
stories, Author Carl Brookins, a member of the “Minnesota Crime Wave,” shows a
real talent for story telling.
Bloody Halls
Carl Brookins
Echelon Press
Large Trade Paperback
ISBN# 1-59080-570-4
260 Pages
ARC
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective
review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2008, 2010, 2019
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment