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This is a thoroughly bizarre book. For the first 70 or so pages it's a fairly intriguing PI story when Lena Padget is asked to investigate the disappearance of a college intern. Suddenly, though, it segues into something else completely different. By the time Lena returns 50 pages later, I didn't care any more. FORTUNES OF THE DEAD left my head spinning. The point of view is all over the place, moving from Lena to a cowgirl to a suspect's wife to an ATF agent. The net result of this is that the reader is given little chance to get to know the characters in any depth. Even worse, some stringent editing and remedial grammar lessons are called for -- the constant shifts in tenses are not only disconcerting, they're also downright wrong. As a character Lena has lots of possibilities, although she's not what you'd call likeable. She's a Kentucky PI who has finally taken the plunge and bought a house with her homicide detective partner Joel Mendez. But in the little character development we see, she's selfish and self-centred and seems to have little consideration for what Joel may want -- and this includes her investigation into the disappearance of Cheryl Dunkirk. Joel is working the case from the other side, so naturally there are confrontations and conflicts of interest -- but this doesn't seem to strike Lena as a problem. The case itself is no more than mildly diverting, and you'll provably guess who the killer is some way before the end. There are links to Waco, hence the appearance of ATF agent Wilson McCoy, who is actually a far more interesting character than Lena. Sadly he can't hijack the whole book, tempting though that thought was to this reader! I've enjoyed other books by Lynn Hightower, but this one is well below standard and deeply disappointing.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, September 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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