 |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
Critic's Corner
|
|
BOOK
REVIEW: "The black shape of Ripshin Mountain loomed against a darkening horizon. This place wasn't likely to be logged and the Forest Service no longer maintained the nearby hiking trail . . . He couldn't have asked for a better place to hide a body. It might never be found." The killer was right, but the best laid plans, as we all know, usually fall through. Seven years after the burial of a young Indian woman's body on Ripshin Mountain a major blow-down brought loggers to the mountain to clearcut the damaged trees. The plane carrying Claire and Kyle Evers from their home in Portland, Oregon to Asheville, North Carolina prepared for landing. Claire and Kyle's visit to the Asheville area has a twofold purpose. One, is to help Claire regain her memory lost after a near-death experience at the age of ten. By visiting her deceased parent's home place and possibly finding surviving relatives she feels recovery is a real possibility. The second is for Kyle to reunite with an old friend, Hank Sawyer, an Indian policeman with the Forestry Service. The last thing on Claire and Kyle's minds is to become embroiled in a murder investigation. Then, Hank is arrested as the prime suspect in the murder of the woman found on Ripshin Mountain. Friend or not, Kyle, as a senior investigator of criminal affairs with the National Forestry Service, has no choice but to become involved in the case. The lines between Claire's search for her family and her husband's search for a murderer keep crossing, muddying up the facts. An attempt on Claire's life seems to be tied to the murder investigation. The question is why? Unless . . . the killer is closer to home than they think. Douglas' love of nature shows in her writing. Her novel, DEADFALL, set in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest and CLEARCUT, its sequel, set in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest, grew from her experiences in those environs. Douglas' natural flare for dialogue is a major asset in her work. Her characters are deftly drawn not only with perfect physical descriptions, but with speech patterns using local dialects. Her choice of sympathetic players makes "Clearcut" more suspenseful as the plot develops and flows to an unexpected resolution. The use of specific details in the preservation of our National forests is informative and extremely interesting. Rather than intruding into the story, they become an integral part of the whole. The author's stories have appeared in Murderous Intent Mystery magazine, and others. Her novella, "Lilacs and Lace," won the 2001 Derringer Award for best mystery novella, and she was a finalist in the previous year's competition with "Blind Justice." Douglas is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She and her family make their home in southern Arizona. Copyright Patricia Ann Jones Jones is a published writer and book reviewer for Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com |
|
|
