Marilyn Stasio in her NYT’s “Crime” review section, focused on four new mysteries, each very different from the other.
In the South Florida crime fiction genre, “No Regrets, Coyote” by John Dufresne is packed with quirky characters and a “loopy plot.” The story begins with the discovery of five murder victims on Christmas eve. Wylie (Coyote) Melville, a consultant to the Everglades County Police Department, doesn’t buy the explanation that this was a parental murder-suicide. Although this doesn’t sound like a very funny plot, the characters including Russian hit men, crooked lawyers, and homicidal cops plus a visit to Santa’s North Pole workshop make it a potential fun read.
“A Dark Redemption” by Stav Sherez is a British police procedural mystery. The grisly murder of a Ugandan student, who was writing her thesis on political terror and torture in Africa, is investigated by Inspector Jack Carrigan, who himself was a victim of brutality in East Africa.
“Massacre Pond” by Paul Doron is described as a “manly mystery.” Set in the backwoods of Maine, the plot revolves around the slaughter of 10 moose on the property of a philanthropist who was going to turn her property over to the state for a national park.
Finally, Howard Owen’s latest mystery is “The Philadelphia Quarry.” Willie Black is an aging crime reporter who comes to the defense of a former ex-con who has been exonerated of a false rape charge. He is not the prime suspect in the murder of the girl he was accused of raping. With the demise of so many newspapers, Willie Black has become one of the last of his breed.