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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:00 PM

LIBRARY LINE: When does a shovel come in handy?

By Rosemary Honn, Library Line

Harry Dolan’s droll first novel, “Bad Things Happen,” opens with a simple, ominous sentence: “The shovel has to meet certain requirements.”

We can’t help but wonder why the shovel is needed, and who the man purchasing the shovel really is. He calls himself David Loogan, and reveals little about himself for reasons that have to do with his past. Gradually we learn he has been hired as an editor for a crime magazine called Gray Streets in Ann Arbor, Mich., by kindly publisher Tom Kristoll. Now his boss has asked for David’s help with a delicate matter.

That’s the first bad thing that happens. Loogan likes his boss, but also happens to be having an affair with Kristoll’s wife, Laura. So Loogan accepts his friend’s story that the body in his study was a result of self-defense, and decides to help him bury the body rather than call the police.

Kristoll’s story is that the dead man is an ex-convict turned crime writer and extortionist. The truth of course, is much more complicated. As we meet more writers and editors involved with the magazine, more deaths occur adding to the mystery. Cleverly plotted and smoothly written, our attention is captured and held mostly because we want to know the truth about the character of David Loogan.

The focus and fun in “Mortal Friends,” by Jane Stanton Hitchcock, is the setting of social politics in Washington. There is murder to be solved, as the body of a young woman is discovered in a park. But mainly we are interested in the love life of Reven Lynch, an unmarried antique-shop owner, who is dating notorious playboy Bob Poll. As he also is a person of interest in the case, an investigator hopes to tap her inside knowledge.

Meanwhile, Cynthia Rinehart, an aggressive self-made millionairess, explodes onto the philanthropic scene and threatens the marriage of Reven’s long-time friend. Hitchcock spins complications into a convincing plot that ensnares our interest until the resolution.

Forensic investigator Theresa MacLean is looking for “Evidence of Murder” in the book by Lisa Black. Theresa has been functioning in a cloud of grief since she lost her fiance … in a bank robbery gone wrong eight months ago. Now she becomes intrigued by a particularly difficult case that demands all her skill, intelligence and attention.

Jillian Perry has been found dead in the woods, leaving behind a husband of three weeks and a young daughter. The cause of death is unknown, her body shows no visible marks and the autopsy reveals nothing suspicious. The leading theory is that she purposely wandered into the forest and succumbed to the freezing weather. But something doesn’t feel right to Theresa, and she can’t let it go.

To complicate matters, a former boyfriend of Jillian’s unexpectedly petitions for custody of the daughter. Obsessed with Jillian, he also suspects foul play in Jillian’s death, and now he and Theresa believe Jillian’s daughter may be in danger of meeting a similar fate.

With a child’s life at stake, Theresa must search for evidence of murder — evidence that doesn’t seem to exist — before it’s too late.

Rosemary Honn is a librarian in the circulation department at the Ottawa Library.

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LIBRARY LINE: When does a shovel come in handy?

By Rosemary Honn, Library Line

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.