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STILL RIVER is another loner private investigator with psycho sidekicks mystery. The setting is Dallas, TX, where the heat, murder, old school ties and violence escalate into a slam-bang ending with no real answers left for PI Lee Henry 'Hank' Oswald. The case begins simply enough when Vera Drinkwater, Hank's old high school friend, asks him to find her missing brother Charlie. It seems Charlie was to meet someone for a meeting, but never showed. The police seem to feel Charlie went off on another drug binge, having just been out of recovery for a few months. When Oswald leaves his client, he is followed immediately by someone. From this opening, a murder occurs, the missing person being the victim. Cops are calling it suicide, Oswald continues to investigate. Meanwhile, Oswald's mentor and partner is dying from cancer in a hospital ward. He asks Hank to look after his niece, a former San Antonio police officer, who is tracking a bail jumper. Afterwards, the two become more involved with the murder of Charlie. As the investigation continues, Hank has to call on Delmar and Olson, two gay ex-Delta force commandos who served in the Gulf war with Oswald. Olson is a gun freak, and loves to build and restyle old weapons. Delmar is into gun collecting and selling. Great for what comes next. Hank also tangles with an enforcer for a crippled mafia boss running the Dallas operations and with a wealthy, arrogant real estate developer, who is keeping his fingers in the Trinity River deal, a real estate plan to combine north and south Dallas by building a bridge between the two areas over the Trinity River. This is the typical private investigator mystery. However, the setting is somewhat Dallas, though, if not familiar with the area, a reader might think the story could be in any metropolitan town. This is a decent first novel, and I only hope the author's next one can bring more life and substance to both the characters and the setting.
Reviewed by Steven Sill, June 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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