The Girl Next Door by Brad Parks - Newspapers, Murder, and Bears! Oh My! - Mystery Book Review

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AppId is over the quota

Award-winning mystery writer, Brad Parks, returns with his third book, The Girl Next Door, featuring amateur sleuth and newspaper reporter, Carter Ross.

Nancy Marino was forty-two-years-old and single. She waitressed at the State Street Grill, delivered Bloomfield, New Jersey's Eagle-Examiner early mornings; and was a shop steward for the International Federation of Information Workers (IFIW), Local 117.

On a hot, Friday morning in July, a speeding Cadillac Escalade struck and killed her while delivering her papers. The driver disappeared onto the Garden State Parkway; confident he committed an untraceable crime.

Who killed Nancy Marino and why?

Enter Carter Ross, an eight-year veteran news reporter for the Eagle-Examiner. Reading Marino's obituary, he decides to memorialize a fellow newspaper employee, even though he'd never met her. He plans to write a story portraying Marino as an ordinary person, who spent her life serving others, and, whose contributions to society went unnoticed until her passing. Attending her funeral, he learns that her death is being investigated as a homicide, which ignites his inquiring mind.

Ross is an unpretentious thirty-two-year-old. Educated at Amherst College, he lives in a two-bedroom, ranch-style house with his black-and-white, domestic, shorthaired cat, Deadline. He ubiquitously dresses in Khakis and button-down shirts; and drives a five-year-old Chevy Malibu.

Many people are aware of the anemic state of print newspapers, given today's digital age. Longtime community newspapers have either downsized considerably, both in content and staff, or folded.

Parks weaves these challenging industry times into the book's plot. During the halcyon days of the newspaper in the late nineties, the Eagle-Examiner signed its thousand-plus carriers to an unprecedented twenty-year contract, which included great wages. Now, given the industry's tough times, the newspaper wants concessions; and the Union isn't yielding.

As the IFIW shop steward, could Nancy Marino have been murdered to silence her opposition to contract negotiations?

Tina Thompson is Ross's editor. In her late thirties and single, she's expressed interest in Ross purely from a "chromosomal" perspective. Determined to experience motherhood, she's suggested Ross become her sperm donor-nothing more.

Parks has a talent for infusing humor throughout his mystery narratives. A bear is on the loose in Newark and Thompson assigns Ross the story. It's mainly done to delineate their professional roles, reminding him that despite their mutual sexual attraction, she calls the shots. Given his career experience, he balks at the task. She prevails.

Kevin "Lunky" Lungford is one of the newspaper's underutilized interns. At six foot five and 275 pounds, his hulk-like appearance easily conveys stupidity. While inept in the newsroom, Ross is taken aback by Lunky's appreciation for literature, reading the works of Emerson, Roth and Thoreau. Ross befriends Lunky, asking him to accompany him on his bear chase story, which proves comical.

Tommy Hernandez is the Eagle-Examiner's Newark City Hall beat writer. He's "as gay as taffeta and chintz, " and an impeccable dresser. Despite his constant chiding of Ross for his lack of sartorial eloquence, Ross respects him as a fine young reporter. Hernandez plays Robin to Ross's Batman when solving crimes. Jibes about their sexual orientation differences are humorous.

Well-written fiction reflects reality and Parks conveys it throughout his story. Ross discusses his observation of human behavior everywhere, "from the meanest housing project to the gilded symphony hall." He says, "And what always strikes me is that when you strip away the superficial differences in clothing, setting, and dialect, groups of people everywhere are more or less the same. We all have our pretenses. We all posture to a certain degree. But, ultimately, most of us are just trying to find a way to fit in."

Anyone with Newark, New Jersey ties will appreciate Parks's area references, including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and the well-to-do communities of Glen Ridge and Montclair.

If you're looking for a fresh voice in mystery narrative, infused with humor, Brad Parks delivers in The Girl Next Door.

Brad Parks is one of numerous crime fiction writers who will be attending the annual Bouchercon Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, Oct 4-7, 2012. For details, visit: http://bouchercon2012.com.

Timothy Zaun is a blogger, speaker and freelance writer. Visit him online at http://timzaun.com/.

Book Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Sweden is frequently being touted as one of the most desirable countries to reside in. And rightly so. Swedes enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world, powered by one of the most globalized and competitive economies and the prized social welfare system. Education is for the most part free. Crime rate is low. Healthcare is cheap and accessible to everyone. Childcare is universal and spanking of children is a criminal offence. Gender discrimination is practically non-existent. You'd be hard pressed to find more environmentally aware people than Swedes.

Sounds pretty darn near perfect -- so it's a little surprising (or not?) that as of late literary depictions of society coming from the land of the midnight sun are often in sharp contrast with the country's impeccable image, suggesting that Swedes might not be so far detached from their Viking days after all. The most glaring example of this trend is the immensely popular Millennium trilogy of mystery novels, written by late Stieg Larsson; the picture he paints in his celebrated work is one of a gruesome, cynical world involving gut-wrenching sexual violence, misogyny, sadism, murder, intrigue and corruption at the highest corporate and governmental levels.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is book one of the renowned trilogy. At the center of the story is Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist and co-owner of a monthly magazine Millennium who finds himself convicted of aggravated libel of a shady corporate magnate - albeit under dubious circumstances.

The sentence includes a monetary fine and a three-month term in prison, but even worse, Blomkvist faces professional disgrace and is forced to step down as the magazine's publisher and member of the board. And just when he gets reconciled with the idea of spending the next few months moping in self-pitying idleness, a strange job offer comes his way from Henrik Vanger, an 82 year old patriarch of the powerful Vanger family: the old man wants Blomkvist to investigate the disappearance of his great-niece Harriet who went missing at the age of 16 -- 36 years ago. Vanger believes she was murdered by a member of his own family and wants to take another shot at solving the mystery before his days are over.

The offer is not something Blomkvist would jump on in a normal situation, but right now he has little else to do, there is a generous payment involved and -- probably most important of all -- Vanger has hinted he's in the possession of certain incriminating information on the shady magnate that has cost Blomkvist his reputation, and that he'd be willing to share this information with Blomkvist -- after the job is done.

So Blomkvist moves to the small island in the north of Sweden where the Vanger estate is located and where the events took place almost four decades ago and delves into it. He sifts through old police reports and family photos, talks to family members still living on the island and soon some of the family's dark secrets long buried come to the surface. Having reached a point where he can't make further progress without the help of a skilled researcher, he recruits Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo) who works part time for a Stockholm security firm, to help him.

Salander is something of a social outcast: tough, distrustful, unforgiving, sporting a violent temper ready to flare up whenever she feels threatened. She is 24 but looks 14 and is riddled with piercings and tattoos -- but she also has photographic memory, incredible computer hacking skills and an uncanny ability to discover anything about anyone, especially when it comes to dirt.

The unusual duo pools their unique skills and little by little they start putting the pieces of the puzzle together. An attempt at Blomkvist's life confirms they are on the right track -- but the incident also makes them realize that the case they are working on may not be so cold after all...

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A Drop of the Hard Stuff By Lawrence Block

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AppId is over the quota

I am a huge fan of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries but had never read one of his Matthew Scudder books. I read Ian Rankin's books and follow him on Twitter and he highly recommended this book - well I know why now. The book starts with a couple of old men in a pub in Hell's Kitchen and they are reminiscing about the old days. They have basically lived their lives on either side of the law and they get to talking about someone the cop knew from his childhood days in the Bronx. This other man, Jack, went the way of the crook and even though he didn't cross paths with Scudder as a criminal, he did later on whilst trying to make amends as part of his 12 step programme.

We then move to much earlier in Scudder's career when he had already left the Force and was nearly a year into his sobriety. It is also interesting to note the detail that Block puts into the emotional and physical side of Scudder's recovery. We are made aware of the very thoughts that go through his head when he is near a bar or even in places he has had experiences whilst drunk are fascinating. Anyway, Jack approaches him after an AA meeting and they get to talking. Jack is in the stage of his sobriety where he is trying to make up for all the wrong he has done. The problem with this is there is a lot to try to work out. He has used and dealt drugs, he has robbed and he may also have murdered. His sponsor is aware of some of his past but certainly no details. As you have probably figured out, Jack ends up dead.

Jack's sponsor hires Matt to try to figure out if it was due to his list of people he was trying to amends to as he feels a certain responsibility in encouraging this behaviour. There are quite a few people on the list that Matt is given but he is determined himself to find out the answers to the questions that arose during the last days of Jack's life. From here we go into some pretty murky worlds and meet some awful characters. Jack has done a pretty good job of getting in front of people, especially those he never even met.

Throughout this story, Matt is dealing with his own demons as well as a girlfriend he may or may not be finished with and regular AA meetings throughout New York. He is an interesting person who is willing to try to do the right thing because he knows he has screwed up a lot of things including his marriage. I am ready to go back and read some more of his books because not only are the stories great but the main character has more than one dimension too.

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/