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SOUTH OF HELL
by P.J. Parrish
Pocket , July 2008
400 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 1416525882


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Louis Kincaid is muddling along in Florida, missing Joe Frye who is doing her job up in northern Michigan. He gets a call from Jake Shockey, a police detective near Ann Arbor, an old stomping grounds for Louis, who wants some help on a cold case. Louis is reluctant but winds up back in Michigan. He just might get to see Joe, if she can get away and he can swing it. The trip's paid for, so what the heck.

Shockey manages to get off on the wrong foot with Louis; he tries to plant some evidence and Louis catches him at it. Jake really wants to get Owen Brandt convicted; he’s convinced that Owen killed his wife Jean Brandt, the woman with whom Jake was having an affair when she disappeared. No body was ever found; Owen has been in jail for other crimes but now is out on parole.

Jean and Owen’s daughter Amy shows up at the old farm house; she's been living with an aunt, who died. Amy is different. She looks like a pre-teen, but is older than that. She has never been to school; her aunt raised her under conditions that most readers will consider unacceptable. Amy begins the transition to a "normal" life with some minor problems, none of which look to be major roadblocks.

While Joe Frye is establishing a relationship with Amy, Louis deals with the fallout from a brief relationship he had in college. The people involved in this particular sub-plot all behave in an almost unbelievably and supremely adult way. It is a tribute to Parrish that the reader does go along.

Parrish writes with a wonderful feeling for relationships of all kinds. Owen and his current girlfriend are not pleasant people; yet most readers know of situations just as unhealthy and just as likely. Sharkey’s abiding love for Jean Brandt is perhaps not the love one dreams of, but it is nonetheless real. Louis and Joe grow and change as this series progresses. The changes are believable and encouraging and one roots for this relationship to keep working in spite of the challenges both people face.

SOUTH OF HELL, in terms of plot, will probably not surprise long-term readers of mystery fiction. Parrish sets up the story well, and those familiar with the conventions of the genre will see the twists coming. What makes that OK is Parrish's talent as a writer. Parrish is far more an "it's not the destination, it's the journey" kind of writer. We know where we’re going. It’s how we get there that makes for such a good book.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, August 2008

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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