Review of "Dead Man's Fancy: A Sean Stranahan Mystery" by Keith McCafferty

In this third book in the 'Sean Stranahan' series, the painter/private detective helps search for a missing woman. The book works fine as a standalone, though familiarity with the characters is a bonus.

****

Sean Stranahan - an artist and private investigator - moved from the East Coast to Bridger, Montana for a change of scenery and the excellent fly fishing.



Sean had been living in his office/studio, but he and his sheltie Choti now reside in a large teepee. Sean's 'mailbox' is a rock, his 'bathroom' is out in the woods, and he follows Native American customs when guests visit.





Sean's living situation seems rather eccentric to Sheriff Martha Ettinger, who sometimes hires Sean to work with her team.



Martha's crew includes Deputy Sheriff Walt Hess, who was once a Chicago police detective;



and Native American tracker Harold Little Feather, who can follow footprints and animal tracks that are almost invisible.



As the story opens, Ettinger's squad, on horseback, are searching Papoose Mountain for a missing woman called Nanita Martinelli (Nicki). Nicki is a 25-year-old naturalist and fly-fishing guide who works on the Culpepper Dude Ranch. Nicki had tagged along on a trail ride, then peeled off to take the long way back.



When Nicki's horse returned to the paddock without her, the call went out about a missing woman. Ettinger's team answered the call, along with Sheriff's Sergeant Warren Jarrett, Culpepper Ranch's manager Bucky Anderson, and Grady Cole - a wrangler smitten with Nicki.



In fact, many men are enamored with Nicki, a gorgeous redhead who's known as the 'Fly-Fishing Venus.'

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As the search continues into the night, Martha and Walt camp out and light a fire. In the morning, Martha is making her way up a rise when she hears wolves howling.....and comes across a shocking sight. The body of wrangler Grady Cole is lying on top of an elk carcass, with an elk antler grotesquely protruding from his abdomen.



It turns out Grady was murdered, which adds to the mystery of Nicki's disappearance, and divides the work of Ettinger's deputies.

As the search for Nicki drags on, Ettinger phones Sean Stranahan - who's on a fishing trip - and asks him to return and help.



Nicki's continued absence suggests foul play, so Sean is dispatched to Nicki's home town of Libby, Montana, to see what he can find out. In Libby, Sean learns about a tragic occurrence in Nicki's family, and is told a young man had been around looking for her.



After Stranahan returns to Bridger, Nicki's sister Asena - also a beautiful outdoorsy redhead - arrives from her home in British Columbia.



Asena suspects Nicki's old boyfriend - who calls himself Fen, and has an odd affinity for wolves - may be responsible for Nicki's disappearance. So Asena hires Stranahan to look for Fen. During Sean's search, he learns that Fen (whose real name is Todd) has been to prison for sexual crimes, and exerts Svengali-like control over young women he takes up with.



When a wolf scat containing a red hair is found, word spreads that a wolf ate Nicki. This causes a HUGE ruckus between people who want to kill wolves and environmentalists who want to protect them.



[Note: Wolves are a controversial issue in Montana. After wolves were wiped out in the region, they were re-introduced in 1995. Ranchers hate wolves for (allegedly) attacking their cattle, and ecologists believe wolves are natural to the environment.]

A large part of the book has Ettinger's team, including Sean, chasing after Fen, who's been seen around the area. The pursuit of Fen, and twists in the plot, lead to an exciting, action-packed climax.

In the characters' personal lives, Martha Ettinger and Harold Little Feather are in a relationship....until they aren't;



and Sean - whose last girlfriend has moved on - seems to ignite romantic sparks with Asena, Martha Ettinger, and a tracker called Katie Sparrow. I'll be curious to see where Sean's romantic life goes from here.



The book is engaging, but the plot is too complicated and confusing. With respect to murders (or attempted homicides), there's Nicki's disappearance; the wrangler's death; and a young woman who was badly burned in a local hot pot (thermal pool). There's also too much chatter about wolves. Admittedly, this is an important real-life issue, but it's over-emphasized in the novel.

I enjoyed visiting with compelling recurring characters, but I wish Sean's best friend, the fishing guide Sam Meslik, would tone down his colorful language about women. Sam's observations are adolescent at best, and offensive at worst.



This isn't the best book in the series (so far) but it's worth reading if you're a fan of Sean Stranahan novels.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Winds From Further West: A Novel" by Alexander McCall Smith

 

Author Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is probably best known for his 'Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series, but he's a prolific author who also pens other series and standalone books. Smith is also a respected expert on medical law and bioethics, and his characters often engage in philosophical discussions and face ethical dilemmas.

In this book, a public health doctor/university lecturer crosses swords with the ambitious director of an Edinburgh research institute.

*****

As the book opens, public health specialist Dr. Neil Anderson is doing well. Thirty-five-year-old Anderson is a lecturer at a research institute in Edinburgh.....



......and is living with his girlfriend Chrissie Thomson - a junior microbiologist at the facility.



During Anderson's class called 'Control of Communicable Disease in Urban Conditions', Neil speaks about the insanitary lifestyle of some destitute people. Neil goes on to talk about being called to a flat in Glasgow, and says, "I saw dirty plates piled sky high around a sink that hadn't been cleaned since goodness knows when. I remember the cockroaches scuttling away when I went in. It was disgusting."



Nineteen-year-old student Tom Barnes, a troublemaker with a chip on his shoulder, sees an opportunity to make a ruckus.



So Tom goes to the new institute director, Henrietta Fold, and reports that Dr. Anderson said people living in difficult conditions were disgusting....and he (Tom) was upset by that remark.



Coincidentally, Henrietta is an ambitious bully who's determined to put her stamp on the school. So Henrietta tells Tom to make an official complaint.



Henrietta then calls in Dr. Neil Anderson, and after a brief discussion, tells him, "I think you should issue an apology for using words that inadvertently - and I stress, inadvertently - caused distress."



Anderson insists he said the CONDITIONS were disgusting, not the PEOPLE, and he refuses to atone. Henrietta means to get her way, and the situation escalates to the point where Henrietta says she has to take the matter to the administration, and Anderson is suspended.



To make things worse, Neil learns his girlfriend Chrissie has been cheating on him. So Neil moves out and goes to stay with his friend James for a few days. When Neil tells James he's resigning from his job and going to the Highlands to 'get away from it all', James offers up a small farmhouse he inherited from his grandfather, located on the island of Mull.





Neil goes to Mull and becomes friendly with some of the local people, like Stuart and Maddy, who live right down the road. In Mull, most people have small farms and do other jobs as well. So Stuart raises oysters and takes people out on boats to fish and dive, and Maddy keeps goats and designs websites.



Maddy also loves poetry and philosophical discussions, and she and Neil talk about poems, relationships, animosity, grudges, amends, forgiveness, remembering, forgetting, and so on.



Maddy and Stuart want to help Neil, so they arrange for him to meet the local veterinarian Jill, a lovely woman who's called the local Circe (enchantress), because men tend to fall in love with her.



The mellow lifestyle on Mull starts to heal Neil's wounds, and he'd like to put the trouble in Edinburgh behind him. But Neil's friend James comes for a visit, and James shares disparaging news about Henrietta and Chrissie. Moreover, James has learned VERY DAMAGING information about Henrietta.



There's PROOF Henrietta committed financial malfeasance at the research institute, and got money she wasn't entitled to. James wants Neil to report Henrietta, get her dismissed, and get REVENGE. But should Neil get do this? The moral dilemma in this story concerns whether Neil should take steps to 'get back' at Henrietta or not. I think some people would agree with Neil's actions and some would not.



Much of the book's charm centers on Neil's respite in Mull, where he rests, goes fishing, dines with neighbors, makes friends, goes to a Cèilidh (dance), and heals from his traumas.


Mull Island


Cèilidh

I always enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's books, which provide food for thought. I'd recommend the book to fans of literary fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Pantheon for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Blood Hunt: An Adventure Thriller" by Ian Rankin (written under the pseudonym Jack Harvey)

I've read many books by Ian Rankin, mostly in the Detective Rebus series, but also the occasional standalone novel. 'Blood Hunt', published in 1995, is one of Rankin's early standalone books, published under the pen name Jack Harvey.

*****

The story features Scotsman Gordon Reeve, a former special forces (SAS) soldier who teaches a weekend survival course.



During training, the 'troops' are taught about map-reading, reconnaissance, surveillance, infiltration, close combat, etc. Afterwards, the 'soldiers' have a GRUELING 36-hour field exercise, during which they try to capture an enemy combatant (played by Reeve).



The course teaches the participants the seven Ps: 'Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance'. Reeve himself follows the seven Ps when he takes action after his brother is murdered.

Gordon Reeve, who lives on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, is shocked when he gets a phone call from the San Diego Police Department.



Detective Mike McCluskey tells Gordon his brother James (Jim) was found dead, and it appears Jim took his own life. Jim was a freelance journalist, and he'd been working on a story in the United States.



Gordon says goodbye to his wife Joan and 11-year-old son Allan......





......and makes his way to California, where Jim met his end. Detective McCluskey is very empathetic, and assures Gordon that Jim rented a car, drove it to an isolated spot, and shot himself.



Gordon searches Jim's hotel room and collects Jim's belongings, but Jim's papers and computer are missing. Moreover, Gordon learns Jim had hired a man called Eddie Cantona to drive him around, and had no need to rent a car.



Gordon decides the whole set-up stinks, Detective McCluskey is lying, and Jim was murdered.



Gordon decides to look into Jim's death, and his inquiries take him back and forth to Washington D.C., France, California, England, and Scotland.



Along the way, Gordon learns the following:

◙ Jim was investigating a company called 'Co-World Chemicals' (CWC), which makes herbicides and pesticides.




◙ CWC chemicals, which are exported all over the world, are poisoning/killing thousands of people, and Jim planned to write an exposé.



◙ Mr. Kosigin, the head of CWC, is determined to avoid exposure at all costs. So Kosigin hired a firm called 'Alliance Investigative' to write up detailed dossiers on potential whistle blowers as well as journalists taking an interest.



◙ The whistle blowers and reporters then suffer premature deaths, orchestrated by a man called Jay. As it happens, Gordon Reeve and Jay were in the SAS together many years ago, and are old enemies.



◙ Gordon's inquiries, and his search for Jim's missing files, put him and others in grave danger. Gordon is a FORMIDABLE opponent though, and the book is chock full of surveillance operations, break-ins, listening devices, chases, shootings, knifings, killings, fires, truth serum interrogations, and so on.





Finally, Gordon and Jay, along with Jay's team of henchmen, meet in a showdown that's been a long time coming.



I always like a book with a formidable hero, and Gordon's exploits put him in that category. On the downside, the story is a little too complicated (for me). Still, this is a fine early-ish effort by Ian Rankin and I'd recommend the book to fans of adventure thrillers.

Rating: 3.5 stars