An Incident at Bloodtide
Gleefully subverting most of the rules of mystery fiction, Chesbro ( Dark Chant in a Crimson Key ) once again produces an extraordinary adventure for his singularly implausible (albeit surpassingly entertaining) dwarf detective, former circus star turned criminologist/sleuth and media darling, Mongo Frederickson. Mongo is visiting his brother Garth and his famous folksinger wife, Mary, when Sacra, Mary's former lover, arrives to claim Mary as his own. Mary is plainly terrified and believes Sacra is a witch. Because Mongo's former loves also include a practitioner of the black arts, he takes Mary's fears seriously. Meanwhile, out on the Hudson River, not far from Garth's house, a shipping company is dumping oil into the water and loading mysterious cargo for export overseas. When an environmentalist friend tries to obtain evidence, his body is ripped apart by propeller blades. With only one real suspect, the author is forced to weld Garth's domestic woes to the wider environmental concerns of the Hudson River. This kind of minimalist plot gambit could easily misfire, but Mongo and his cohorts form such a ruthlessly cunning, delightfully oddball crew that the reader remains engrossed. The action heats up, bodies are battered and the plucky Mongo gets to pilot a tanker through murky waters.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.