Early Eight (Working Man's Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: fascinating who-done-it
Review: After drinking too much, busting up a bar and hurting some people Terry Saltz went to prison; when he was released he vowed never to take another drink and get his act together. He works at Smitty's Bars and Eats and has a second job as a carpenter. He's friends with his ex-parole officer and shares a double wide trailer with his pal Danny and police officer John Garvey. He and his friends have annoyed Alan Bushell because they have solved some homicide cases.

At a pool tournament, Terry notices Gwen Hunter dissing one man while flirting with another. The next day while working on a carpentry assignment, he hears a woman screaming and when he runs over to see what is the matter, he finds Gwen dead in her cart, a piece of yellow rope tied around her neck. The same night that Gwen is killed, Terry's friend Bud is upset because his buddy Ernie was killed in a car accident. Tests prove that he was murdered; Terry and company believe the same person killed both Gwen and Ernie and investigate with Terry's brother as one of the suspects.

L.T. Fawkes takes mysteries to a whole different level in large part to his characters who are blue collar working stiffs who hang together and are friends in a way not typically portrayed by writers. What makes Terry and his friends so special is the way they support each other and are not afraid to reveal their emotions to one another. The who-done-it is fascinating because there is no character in this book that the reader would like to be guilty.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: More of an edge to this one...
Review: I would like to have given this book 4.5 stars but Amazon doesn't allow that. So since Harriet Klausner (Who is this woman and how does she have time for all those reviews? Does she have no other life?) had already given it 5 stars, I opted for 4.

Early Eight definitely had a more edgy tone to it than Fawkes' first two books. Cold Slice and Lights Out both had kind of a warm and fuzzy feel to them; whereas this one is less so. However, I thought the whodunit aspect of Early Eight was much better than the previous books, as Fawkes did a much better job of holding the suspense out until near the end of the book. Good book, looking forward to the next Terry Saltz adventure.

Also a technical correction note to the author - on the Andy Griffith Show, I believe it was Barney Fife who said "Nip it in the bud", not Aunt Bea.