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Summer 1889, and a dead man lies in a construction site near Madison Square. A Mohawk construction worker stands over him. Jim Tupper killed his foreman in self-defense but he knows he must flee, back to his home in the Adirondacks. Police Captain Tom Braddock and his family are going to the Adirondacks for a two week vacation. After a long and arduous trip, consisting of three changes of trains, and a coach ride of several hours, they arrive at a luxury hotel, one of the first in the lakes region of upstate New York. There's even indoor electric lighting, which Tom and Mary's young daughter finds very funny. They can afford to stay at this hotel because Mary is one of the best known Madames in New York City. She owns two houses. Of course she is retired now, but she still runs the gambling rooms herself. Mike, their son, falls for one of the maids at the hotel, and when she is murdered, Mike is immediately suspected. Meanwhile, Tupper has stowed away on the Albany packet boat. Guided by the spirit of his grandfather, he is trying to get home and safe. As if two murders aren't enough, there is a subplot about a developer who is trying to build rustic camps for the very wealthiest New Yorkers. Like all developers, he is accumulating land whatever way he can, even cheating his sister out of most of her inheritance. This could have been an excellent book. The construction site was probably that for the first Madison Square Garden, designed by Stanford White, and where he died in 1906. The author assumes that the reader knows that the Mohawks of the Iroquois nation have worked construction on dangerous sites, since sometime in the 19th century (and still do). He also supposes that the reader is familiar with the lakes region and the historical background of the hunting camps of the super-rich that once dotted the region. The relationship between Braddock and his son, Mike, is developed, but the rest of the characters are somewhat cardboardy, and the Mohawk is really a red herring. That's pretty obvious from the beginning. I was disappointed in this book.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, December 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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