Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201050263
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MYSTERIES IN BRIEF
I'm Getting Killed Right HereBy William Murray. Doubleday. $18.95. First, a disclaimer or two: if you don't like horses, horse racing, Southern California and generic Californians (that is to say, weird), then pass this one by. But if a polished, crafted mystery done by an old pro is in your line, then "I'm Getting Killed Right Here" may be just your perfecta ticket.
William Murray is a prolific, eclectic writer. He has produced a variety of books on drama and Italy, as well as novels which include five predecessors to "I'm Getting Killed . . ." featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and race track tout. Shifty Lou has lots of trouble in the paralleling plots Murray weaves into this tale. One involves a new filly (horse) that shows great promise if he and the horse can survive until the big race. Another problem involves a filly (two-legged), who heats up Shifty's hormones, and leads him into a wilderness of murder, scandal, government crookedness and water problems (California's, that is).
Murray is a man who obviously knows his way around the tracks. (The title, incidentally, comes from the statement of a Maryland railbird when advised by the track announcer of the death of former president Harry Truman.) This is a book full of colorful scenery and colorful people, and if that combination is not for you, just remember, that's California.\ -ROBERT HILLDRUP\ \ A Single Stone\ By Marilyn Wallace. Doubleday. $15.
This is a tale of a California of a different kind: the cold, gray and dingy desolation that's Oakland and the rocky north coast. What makes things worse for Linda Orett, the heroine of "A Single Stone," is that she must bear two burdens, neither of which a parent should have to have. The first is the grisly murder of her 7-year-old daughter, the body found in an Oakland park with a doll, an "X" cut into its body, nearby.
Tried for the crime by an aggressive district attorney, Orett is found not guilty on a technicality, and walks the beaches trying to hold onto what little seems left of her sanity while mourning her dead child. Then the body of another child with another doll is found, and Orett, in order to save herself, must seek to solve the cases.
This is strong stuff, with the psychological parts being almost more compelling than the murders themselves. Author Marilyn Wallace in this, her third novel, brings a substantial skill to her story, grim as it may be.\ -ROBERT HILLDRUP\ \ The City When It Rains\ By Thomas H. Cook. Putnam. $19.95.\ Putnam calls this a story of mystery and madness, but it is better than that. It is a better than average character study, and Cook is a lyrical and gloomy writer; his prose is like an impressionist painting of a stormy day. His narrator, David Corman, a fiercely independent freelance New York City photographer, describes "the streets, the sharp edge of the city, its fierce irony and darkly battered charm." One of his characters says of an illicit love affair, "Love makes it better. . . . I don't know if that makes it okay. I'm not saying that. But I know it makes it better."
The plot of "The City When It Rains" traces Corman's efforts to discover why a mentally ill young woman killed herself. The trail leads to the young woman's relationship with her father; what Corman discovers there becomes a reflection of the love he has for his own nine-year-old daughter, as it raises the perennial parental issue of when to protect and when to let go.
Thomas's novels are worth reading, if only for the beauty of his dark poetry, but the publisher is puffing when it says they are white-knuckle thrillers.\ -TOM SHAFFER
\ Motown\ By Loren D. Estleman. Bantam. $19.
Loren Estleman won an Edgar Award last year for "Whiskey River," his historical crime novel about Prohibition. "Motown" is a sequel of sorts, the second book of a trilogy. It's another historical novel, set in 1966, an era of muscle cars, municipal corruption and racial conflict. The plot follows three lines of action. The first concerns a disgraced cop, Rick Amery, who agrees to infiltrate an automotive consumer group and find incriminating evidence of something - anything - for GM. The second focuses on the efforts of the police to keep tabs on Detroit's two main criminal organizations, black and Italian. The third, and by far the most interesting, is about a war between a black bootlegger, Quincy Springfield, and the mob boss who's trying to take over the numbers game in the black neighborhoods.
There are a few incongruities in the writing. Estleman describes a barn as being big enough to shelter a 747 when the 747 was three years from production, and he has his characters use phrases like "up to speed" and "burnout" that weren't part of our vocabulary in 1966. Those are quibbles, though. Even if the cinematic structure makes the action hard to follow at times, "Motown" is still a vivid, fast-moving story with a serious purpose. Recommended.
-MIKE MAYO
Robert Hilldrup is a Richmond writer and former newspaperman.\ Tom Shaffer's newest book is "American Lawyers and Their Communities."