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WHO ARE YOU, LINDA CONDRICK?
by Patricia Carlon
Soho Press Inc, August 2002
190 pages
$22.00
ISBN: 1569472580


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

It's fire season in the Australian outback; the book opens with the Forst family working together to fight back the fire to save the Forst sheep ranch. They beat it back with the help of a kind wind, but they know that just under the surface the embers are still alive and that the fire may flare back up at any moment. If they cannot control the fire, it will lay waste to the ranch.

Those embers smoldering beneath a surface of ash provide a nice metaphor for the dangerously hostile relationships between the members of the Forst family. For years the owner of the ranch, Ella Forst, had kept all of her relations close to her. She provided employment and support to two generations of the Forst family. Then she died, and in her will she left everything to one grandson. The grandson, Gregory Forst, is planning on marrying Ella's nurse, Linda Condrick. The rest of the family is anxiously waiting to be told where they all fit into his plans. Their jobs, their incomes, and their homes rest on his decisions. Their fear breeds suspicion and even hatred of Linda Condrick. She is seen as being the catalyst for change. If she were cast off (or dead), they believe that life could continue as it had under Ella's ownership. Their words and actions show their fear and hatred flaring up, being beaten back, and flaring up again.

The first murder is committed during the fire. A swaggie (tramp) whom Linda sent up to help fight the fire disappears. Later, his corpse is found. Who would kill him? Why would anyone kill him? Did he know something damaging about someone? The obvious suspect is Linda Condrick. She is the only newcomer to the ranch. The local policeman knows when he is in over his head. He calls in detectives from the city to help solve the case and then another man dies.

This is a good "puzzle" book; however, I never found any of the characters at all sympathetic. The author played fair and presented an interesting challenge, but I would have liked to have been engaged on an emotional as well as an intellectual level. I never found myself rooting for a character; I ended up feeling like it was good riddance to all of them. If you read mysteries for the challenge of the puzzle, I would recommend this one.

Reviewed by Jill Long, October 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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