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Oh, dear. Where to start. This book won the PWA/SMP Best Private Eye Novel Contest for 2004. While the author has talent, please believe that, I did have to wonder about the other entries into the contest because, well, let's wait on that . . . Hank Berlin is home with his young son when a very close friend stops by one day. Liz Drucker was the girl he loved in high school; she chose his best friend and they married. Now Jack Drucker is dead and Liz wants Hank to find out why. The story flows smoothly, the dialogue works. Jack was an investigative reporter so when he was found dead in his car, what was he doing? Did his death have anything to do with any stories he was working on? There was some controversial development going on with council members switching votes at the last minute. (Although I found that for a small town, Pinery Falls appeared to have a really large city council. I've lived in several major cities with smaller councils.) There are rumors too of the son of a major organized crime figure living not far from where Drucker was shot. Berlin investigates and finds lots of possibilities. Some of the reactions to his questions seem way out of proportion so maybe there are clues there. The story also focuses on both Berlin's son and ex-wife and his history in general and with Jack. I found the ex-wife to be, shall we say, a nasty piece of work. The marriage didn't work but neither adult is a horrid person. Yet, the few interactions shown in the book make it hard to understand why Hank married her; she's whiny, rude, ambitious and nasty to Hank. I found there to be simply too much focus on the kid who's not very interesting -- he's an ordinary child whose every conversation with daddy doesn't have to be reported. The issue that most fascinated me about Hank Berlin somehow didn't sink in very deeply; Berlin went to Canada rather than go to Vietnam. This is an issue of great interest to me, and one that is full of emotion, history and personal angst for everyone who came up against it, back during the war years and even now. But somehow, despite Hank's telling parts of the story, it never rings clear for me. This was a desperate, tough decision for young men to make back then, and I just never felt the heat of it. Finally, I'm sorry, but the resolution was a major disappointment. I was stunned at the ending and felt cheated. Kronenwetter is a good writer, there's no doubt; his dialogue comes across as realistic, his main character has solid reality as a sleuth, the Wisconsin setting is pretty good. But I do not think this book can possibly be the best example of private eye fiction of 2004 if that's the ending of the book. It should have gone back to the author and another way to resolve the story should have been found.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, July 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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