This will reduce my pile of Shaber's Simon Shaw mystery stories to zero and will venture into other territories, but first...
You will recall that these tales are based at a fictitious NC college in Raleigh and Prof Simon Shaw, a historian with a knack for solving really cold cases getting the moniker of 'forensic historian'. This one opens with the escape of a murderer from the prison in Raleigh. Surprise, surprise when the escapee turns up at Prof Shaw's house. This guy has served 40y of a life sentence for a murder he says he didn't commit and asks for help in proving his innocence. says he was forced to confess. The body was never found, but a drug hunting plane spots something in the mountain forest. turns out to be a truck with the remains of the corpse in the passenger seat. 40y? why wait so long? was he protecting something or someone?
The murder in question took place near where Prof Shaw grew up, Boone, NC, the home of Appalachian State University. Summer term is over so after learning what he can in Raleigh, he heads for the mountains to stay with family and do some digging. And dig he does. aunts and uncles, Big Momma and Rocky, cousin Luther, the retired sheriff, the retired history department chairman, mixed race lovers, games of checkers (the title comes from a particular checker board setup that serious players use to get past the typical opening of the game), the dead girl's sister, hours in the university library, evidence of old Cherokee settlements, and the chance of lost long gold up there in them thar hills.
As usual, Shaber delicately and gently takes the reader through his family and environs as Prof Shaw puts seemingly unconnected bits of information together to lead him to solving the case. following the clues in this one is like wandering around a spider web. I think this lady is good. easy reading, intelligent plotting, realistic characters, genuine dialogue...I will come back. I think there are 7 Shaw novels, so I look forward to spending more time with Prof Shaw.
East Coast Don
EC Don
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This is a great read. I had a weekend in LA and time for this short and easy read. There is something very comforting about the way Shaber presents her characters, so I will follow your lead and read more of her. However, I'm headed to Mexico on Tuesday, to my daughter's ranch in Todos Santos, and my next book is a recommendation from Boedeker, "I hope they serve beer in hell" by Tucker Max.
WC Don