|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Ben Truman was the police chief of tiny Versailles, Maine, although that was not how he had planned his life. He had been in graduate school in Boston hoping to get a doctorate in history when his motherıs Alzheimer's grew so bad that his father could no longer deal with it. He came home, joined the small force of which his father was chief, and became chief after his father retired although he was still in his twenties and had no experience in police work. When this story opens, his mother had recently died. And Ben was facing the case of a lifetime. He had discovered the bloated body of an Boston Assistant District Attorney in a deserted cabin out by the lake. Although all the authorities, both Maine and Massachusetts, were called in, Ben still wanted to be involved. A retired Boston policeman, John Kelly, appears seemingly from nowhere to become his mentor and his companion as he goes to Boston and pursues his independent investigation in Mission Flats, an area rife with poverty, crime, and drugs. The story is told in the first person and in many ways is a character study of Ben Truman. He is a complex and intriguing young man and reveals himself to us quite slowly and reluctantly. He and his father have a difficult relationship because of alcoholism, but his mother was his idol and he has not gotten over her illness and her death. It was she who had insisted that he attend college and get out of the dead end town of Versailles. He operates both in Versailles and in Mission Flats with some degree of success and develops a rather surprising rapport with the local cops and the criminals. While there is a mystery, for we are not certain who killed the D.A., even though the Boston police are convinced it is a gang leader, the greater mystery is Ben Truman. We learn, layer by layer, what impels him and what motivates him and why he insists on involving himself in this investigation. He does seem to possess investigative skills with no training, although he compares the study of history to the investigation of a crime. He moves so smoothly in almost every environment, sometimes it is difficult to believe in him. It is also hard for me to believe that a big city police department would allow this ³hick cop² to be involved and even interfere in their investigation. While he is not especially popular with the police, he does keep appearing at key moments in their investigation and they tolerate him. The story twists and turns and will intrigue the reader. The sense of place in Maine, the untouched lake, the small town, the slowness of life all are very well shown. Boston, especially Mission Flats, is clear as well as drug dealers take over a small park and arrange for drug deals that the police cannot stop and the buildings look like bombed out leftovers from the latest war. I must admit I was surprised by the denouement of the story, and the conclusion is just open-ended enough that it might be possible to draw several conclusions. While this is the story of a crime, it is also the story of a man, his love for his parents, and his duties to them and to society. It is an absorbing tale.
Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, October 2003
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
