A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

 

A Thousand Steps

Author: T. Jefferson Parker

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Date of Publication: January 11, 2022

Pages: 368

      T, Jefferson Parker is a marvelous writer.  He has won two previous Edgar Awards for the best mystery novel of the year (Silent Joe in 2001 and California Girl in 2003) and another Edgar for the best short story ("Skinhead Central" in 2008). A Thousand Steps may be his best yet.

     This is basically a missing girl story, but it is so much more than that.  It is a surreal look into the culture in Southern California in the late 1960s.  It is like opening a time capsule and seeing all of the music, clothes, drugs, cars, and attitudes of that time and place.  At the center of the story is Matt Anthony, a sixteen year old in Laguna Beach who lives off of his paper route money and is basically raising himself.  His dad has moved on to another family in Arizona and his mom is trying to find herself in the counterculture.  His older sister Jasmine (nicknamed Jazz) fails to come home for several nights in a row.   The police figure she is just another hippie girl runaway.  However, a classmate of Jazz' is found dead on the beach which ratchets up the tension quite a bit.    Matt initiates his own investigation which leads him on a circuitous path through pot parties, orgies, communes, and music festivals.  Parker brings that era back to life with great characters (fictional as well as real-life folks such as Timothy Leary), incredible detail, and vivid descriptions of place.  

     This is a a great read.  I can't imagine that this book won't be nominated for next year's Edgar Award and probably be the winner.    

2022 Edgar Nominee Five Decembers by James Kestrel

 

Five Decembers

Author: James Kestrel

Publisher: Titan

Date of Publication: October 26, 2021

Pages: 428

     The five nominees for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel are: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen, Five Decembers by James Kestrel, How Lucky by Will Leitch, and No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield.  This is the fourth of my reviews for this list of books.  Click on the hyperlinks above to view the previous reviews.  

     This book is terrific.  It combines a fine noir murder mystery, a love story, and a well-researched historical narrative.  The settings of Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Manila, Hong Kong, and Tokyo are essential to the story and are brilliantly rendered.  The plot is complex but keeps the reader locked in.  The story starts in Honolulu in early December, 1941.  A young couple is found in an isolated shed brutally murdered.  The young woman is Japanese and the young man is a nephew of the Admiral in command of Pearl Harbor.  Detective Joe McGrady of the Honolulu Police Department is the lead investigator and follows the primary suspect across the Pacific to Manila and Hong Kong.  Before he can make an arrest, Joe is captured by the Japanese and spends the rest of the war in Tokyo.  After the armistice is signed on the U.S.S. Missouri, Joe returns to Honolulu and attempts to resurrect what is now a cold case.  Stephen King calls this "An electrifying read.  The last chapter is a real stunner."  These are, believe it or not, gross understatements.  

   I enjoyed this book for many reasons.  The large cast of characters are all well developed.  Joe McGrady is a classic 1940s gumshoe who is very sympathetic and mostly plays by the rules until he doesn't.  Gloves come off when Joe returns to Honolulu in 1945 and realizes he has been betrayed by former colleagues and things aren't what they seemed in 1941.  The plot moves along with many twists and turns.  The settings as I mentioned above, are great.  This author has done an amazing amount of research to bring these locales to life.  The descriptions of the fire bombing of Tokyo and the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are worth reading the whole book for.   This is a very worthy nominee for the 2022 Edgar Award.   

  

Edgar Nominee: No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield

 

No One Will Miss Her

Author: Kat Rosenfield

Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher

Date of Publication: October 12, 2021

Pages: 304

     The five nominees for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel are: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen, Five Decembers by James Kestrel, How Lucky by Will Leitch, and No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield.  This is the third of my reviews for this list of books.  Click on the hyperlinks above to view the previous reviews.  

     This book has a lot of positive aspects.  The characters are unique and while not particularly endearing, they are well developed by the author.  The settings include rural Maine and Boston.  The author's descriptions of place are excellent, and add a tremendous amount to the story,  

     The plot opens with the discovery of a local woman named Lizzy Ouellette in Copper Falls, Maine who has been brutally murdered and disfigured.  Her husband is missing and becomes the primary suspect.  Lizzy grew up with her single father in a junkyard which he owned and ran.  She fixed up an isolated old cottage and rents it out to vacationers from the city.  One of her most frequent renters is a social media influencer and her high society husband.  They were to be renting the cabin where Lizzy's body is found.

     A state police investigator joins the murder inquiry, much to the consternation of the local police.  The list of folks who either resented or had arguments with Lizzy and/or her husband gets longer the more the detective digs into the case.  The investigator uncovers the curious relationship between the "wrong side of the tracks" Lizzie and the big city influencer/renter, Adrienne Richards.  Designer clothes as well as jewelry and other items formerly belonging to Adreinne are found in Lizzie's home.  The relationship between the poor, lower class country girl and the sophisticated, world-wise socialite is found to be more and more peculiar.

     The plot of this novel is fast-paced and keeps you guessing and keeps the pages turning.  There is a startling twist of plot about mid-way through the story which ratchets up the tension and mystery quite dramatically.  This is a very worthy nominee for the Edgar Award and I enjoyed it very much.