Ferry Tails: A Whidbey Island Thriller by Ted Mulcahey is a wonderful tale, in part, regarding tails. Roger Wilkie is a deputy sheriff on the southern end of Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. The office of Sheriff Tom Davis was in Coupeville, a bit of a distance away from Wilkie’s substation, so Wilkie really was the main boss in his southern section. His best friend who handled much of the small crimes was Wally Turbin, and they were assisted by a couple volunteers, Wally and Bruce. This quiet island rarely encountered a big crime, so it was more than a surprise when there was a murder on a ferry which provided one of two ways to get to and from the island. There was also an inconvenient ferry. Hanna Sucki was found in her car which was being transported from the mainland to Whidbey. While parked and sitting in the driver’s seat, she had been shot between her eyes. The killer had to be on the ferry, but when the passengers were all screen at disembarkation, no obvious suspect came to mind among the passengers. However, it was soon discovered that she had been carrying a cache of diamonds which had been stolen from Joseph Driggs who was head of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). The fundamentalist church was distinct from the main church because they continued to practice polygamy. Driggs used Shane Mullins as his enforcer. Wilkie and the others were sure the trail would lead to those two men, but they didn’t know where Driggs and Mullins were hiding and they had no way to prove their theory on the crime.
There were a couple subplots besides this murder. On the island was a convicted felon, Francis Early, who had recently been released from prison. He was a huge man who had tattoos all over his body, including prison tattoos of tears. He was so intimidating to nearly everyone he encountered that he had learned to live life as a single person. He had chosen to live on the island because his brother lived there, a respected man in the community, Jake Early. Francis wanted to help solve the murder since the suspected culprits were well known to him. However, Francis tended to cause trouble wherever he went, mostly because of his rather ghastly appearance. One subplot was the surprising love story between Francis and Maggie, the island’s medical examiner.
I thought the best subplot had to do with German Shepards. The dogs were woven into the story along with their fierce protective sense for their owner, as well as their intelligence and remarkable intuition.
I don’t think I’m doing justice in this review to the well-developed plot and the outstanding characters. This was an excellent story and it was gripping from the onset. I give author Mulcahey my strongest recommendation, and I would love to read more about Wilkie and his cohorts.
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