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I went to an all female Catholic high school, so reunions tended to be fairly sedate affairs -- except for the year the organizer decided to include spouses and have an open bar -- and the year I fantasized about putting ground glass in Sister Catherine's orange juice. In Carl Brookin's REUNION, Jack Marston and Lori Jacobs go from Minneapolis to Riverview, Minnesota, the town where Lori grew up, for her high school reunion. Though she was reluctant to go, Jack encouraged her, wanting to have a look at where Lori had been raised. Instead of the bucolic paradise Jack envisions, Riverview turns out to be more like a setting for a Martin Scorsese movie. On the first night, a local farmer is murdered; he is found behind the restaurant where the opening ceremonies are being held, impaled on a pitchfork. Next, the wealthy Edith Kronk, who has come al the way from California - apparently to scandalize her former classmates with her outlandish dress and behavior - is also found murdered. In the hope that they can soon get things sorted out and return to their tranquil lives in Minneapolis, Jack and Lori dig into the lives of the members of the community. It doesn't take long to unearth a scheme to defraud farmers of their land and make a huge profit. Involved in the plan are the local banker, the local lawyer, and the local salesman of farm equipment. Possibly in search of some degree of absolution, Lori takes Jack to the creek where Anthony Litvek died; he was he smallest boy in the class and was goaded into crossing the creek by a group of high school students. Lori found herself helpless to assist Anthony in any way, but his drowning continues to haunt her. Jack is the most interesting character in the book - a city mouse plunged into the countryside, an area about which he knows absolutely nothing. My only reservation is that there is too much plot in the last third of the book. Just as I thought the book was ending when the miscreants were brought to justice, the novel went on to yet another level. Parenthetically, I've only been to Minnesota in the spring when the weather was perfect. I always assumed that the summers would be balmy, but the oppressive heat in REUNION practically becomes a character in the book. I live near Lake Michigan, where it often got hot, but our only murders were my fantasies about doing in the nuns. § Mary Elizabeth Devine taught English Literature for 35 years, is co-author of five books about customs and manners around the world and lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Dudley, December 2011
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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