Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page One of TwoHit List by Lawrence Block
William Morrow, 2000.Hardcover, 296 pages.
ISBN: 0060198338.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
John Keller lives a normal, single guy's life in
New York City. He travels on business, collects stamps,
dutifully shows up for jury duty and has the occasional
relationship with a most unsuitable
woman. But Keller's job is anything but normal; he is
an extremely accomplished assassin who accepts his
gigs from his broker, the super-efficient Dot.
Keller's latest job in St. Louis was really strange;
he just had a bad feel about the whole thing. Then,
the people who rented his hotel room after he switched
rooms are found murdered. The coincidences keep piling
up, until it becomes clear to Keller and Dot that the
hit man has himself become the target of a rival
assassin who is methodically eliminating the competition.
Naming the mysterious assassin "Roger", Keller and
Dot set out to take out the other hit man.
Lawrence Block is truly one of our writing treasures. Whether he is writing about the gentleman thief and bookseller, Bernie Rhodenbarr, or the spy who never sleeps, Evan Tanner, he always entertains. Hit man John Keller is a complex character who kills for a living, but who strives to be ethical in his daily life. Extremely introspective, Keller is always at his most entertaining when he is musing over some vicissitude of daily life, such as when he wonders how in the world he is ever supposed to "clean his plate" in a diner that boasts a bottomless cup of coffee. (No matter how much coffee he drinks, a waitress is always standing at the ready to refill it.) His neuroses at time have an almost Seinfeldian sense about them: Keller's visit to a psychic (at the suggestion of his current commitment-phobic artist girlfriend) makes him extremely nervous when the psychic notices his "murderer's thumb." And it is the ruthlessly efficient Dot who pulls Keller back down to earth when his ruminations take him too far afield. The dialogue is priceless and Keller is a ruthless charmer. Highly recommended.
--Claire E. White
Honest Doubt by Amanda Cross
Ballantine, December 2000.Hardcover, 259 pages.
ISBN: 0345440110.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
In what appears to be a testing of the waters for a
new series, Kate Fansler meets up with an ex-lawyer
turned private investigator named Estelle "Woody" Woodhaven.
Woody is a thirty-something, apparently pretty, p.i.
who rides a motorcycle and obsesses constantly about her
weight, which is not insubstantial. Woody has been
asked to investigate the death of a truly obnoxious
Professor of English Literature who was quite
the pedant on the subject of his favorite poet, Tennyson,
when he wasn't putting down women on a regular basis,
both in his department and in his personal life.
Professor Charles Haycock suddenly keels over dead
at a party in his own home, after drinking from the
ghastly Greek liquor known as retsina. Woody
asks Kate Fansler to consult on the case and to provide
explanations of the machinations of a fractious
college department. There are suspects galore, and
Woody quickly develops a hero worship of the
elegant Kate, and less than pure thoughts about the
Denzel Washington look-alike police officer whom
Kate's husband has talked into helping Woody with the case.
Woody is about as different from Kate Fansler as it is possible to be. Yet, they are both smart, independent women. Woody is fresh, she's funny and strikingly vulnerable beneath her armor plated exterior. Woody and Kate make a great team, but the show here is all Woody's. We look forward to seeing more of a very intriguing new private investigator.
--Claire E. White
Killing Cassidy by Jeanne M. Dams
Walker and Co., November 2000.Hardcover, 228 pages.
ISBN: 0802733476.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Amateur sleuth and British resident Dorothy Martin adores
her adopted home, and her new husband, ex-Deputy Constable
Alan Nesbitt. Dorothy receives a letter from her hometown in
Indiana. Her old friend, Kevin Cassidy, has died and left Dorothy a small
inheritance which is dependent upon Dorothy returning to
Indiana to collect it. So Dorothy and Alan
head off for the wilds of Indiana to visit Dorothy's hometown, and
perhaps solve a murder. But the homecoming is a little
upsetting for Dorothy. Nothing is quite the same as it was years ago,
and it looks like a murderer really is stalking the small town.
Can Dorothy find the killer before he strikes again?
The always-charming Dorothy Martin is as indefatigable a sleuth as ever, even though she is out of her normal environs: the cozy English village or the cutthroat business world of London. This book concentrates more on the relationship between Dorothy and Alan, and because of that provides some interesting insights into their relationship. Although Indiana isn't England, it certainly has its charms, and fans are sure to enjoy Dorothy's brand of sleuthing, regardless of where she happens to be.
Mystery Reviews
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