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The Captain was an Edgar nominee when it was first published. That was more than twenty years ago. Given its age, I was particularly interested to see if it would measure up to today's level of mystery fiction, which in my view is generally better than twenty years ago, with a few notable exceptions. Given the subject, I was also interested to learn whether its relevance was enhanced, considering the aging of the American population. I am pleased to report that, like many of us, The Captain is aging well. In many way this is not an easy book to read. It touches us viscerally, in our core. Consider the protagonist, the namesake of the story. He was a cop, and a good one, by all reports. Oh, he may have bent a few rules from time to time, in order to meet his obligation to protect and serve, but he was respectful of the civilian population. He recognized the boundaries. Now, in the twilight of his life, he's in a nursing or retirement home as they're sometimes now labeled. And he has metamorphosed into something of an anti-hero. Both his physical and his mental capabilities have diminished but he still retains that attitude of service. And when people do bad things to elderly people, the Captain comes to their rescue in direct and final ways. This is not a mystery in the classic whodunit style; we know who and why early on. But the tension that author Shubin builds, the sly subterfuges the Captain employs, and the surprising and poignant solution, all are woven expertly together in a novel that should have wide appeal and is definitely for and of our time. INNER PASSAGES A SUPERIOR MYSTERY http://www.Minnesotacrimewave.org
Reviewed by Carl Brookins, December 2002
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