Mountain Ice

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Summary: Good News for mystery Fans!
Review: Good News for mystery fans!
Ouray, Colorado resident and prolific writer Ray Derouin has just published his third David Dean mystery and it's a keeper.
For the legion of readers familiar with Derouin's earlier works in this series (Time Trial & San Juan Solution) rest assured all of your favorite characters are back and better than ever. For the dwindling number of readers not yet aware of this wonderful series, you are in for a reading delight.
The protagonist retired police detective David Dean, his wife Cynthia and stepfather Fred O'Connor have settled into running their Ouray Bed & Breakfast, Bird Song, and enjoying the incomparable mountain scenery and ambiance of this premier mountain town. After a six-month shake down period Bird Song is generating a respectable profit and is booked solid in anticipation of the upcoming mountain Ice Festival for which Ouray is world famous. So far, so good. Ah, but the plot thickens and in the usual Derouin fashion it involves Bird Song guests which his wife describes as "a conflated collection of crazies." A bit of an overstatement you might think? You be the judge. The eclectic mix of guests include a woman and son who claim to be hiding from her abusive husband; a science fiction writerr (sort of) that is a bit unusual; a man from Grand Junction, CO that claims to be the father of the son that is in hiding with his mother; two sisters from Boston that answered an Internet bulletin board message. It seems that Fred O'Connor has some clothing and other items that belonged to their long deceased great aunt that was possibly a former prostitute and lover of a married clergyman in Ouray some 100 years ago. Add in the appearance of the alleged abusive husband, the woman and daughter that help clean the rooms at Bird Song, an apparent suicide, an attempted murder at the Ice Festival, the possibility of a white-clad, ghost like figure that inhabits the Inn and you have the makings of a vintage Derouin mystery. Oh, did I mention the codebook and the suspicion that David Dean is a murderer and the fact that I was positive, three times, that I had figured out who the murderer was only to discover I was wrong after the murdered man appears at Bird Song?
This is by far Derouin's best book and that is saying something given the highly acclaimed first two in the series. The characters are believable, the text highly readable, and the setting is both authentic and a credit to Ouray and the surrounding area. Derouin knows his stuff and it shows. Having lived in the area I was delighted to again visit Ouray; have coffee with Priscilla at Cimarron Books in Ridgway; visit the ski slopes of Telluride, and otherwise spend a wonderful time in a beautiful area with an incomparable writer on Mountain Ice. Highly recommended.

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Summary: A most enjoyable story
Review: Mountain Ice is R.E.Derouin's third David Dean mystery novel, Time Trial and San Juan Solution being the first two installments. Derouin is a resident of Ouray, Colorado, where he writes and occasionally works in the family toy business.

David Dean, ex-cop from Pennsylvania, has relocated to Ouray, Colorado where he and his wife, Cynthia, have recently opened a bed and breakfast called Bird Song. Dean's stepfather Fred also lives at Bird Song. Fred has started an online resale business of auction items. To date, life has been idyllic, until Edith Shipton appears. She and her son Donnie have obvious problems, including hiding out from Edith's abusive husband. But when a 100 year old journal turns up in code, chaos begins to unravel what should be a peaceful vacation paradise:

"Dean looked up at his wife after reading the strange lines. 'Damned! That doesn't sound like any minister's wife I ever knew!' 'What do you make of it?' Cynthia asked cautiously. 'It's obvious. She's a hooker. A prostitute. A lady of the night.'"

Derouin writes a lively mystery chock full of interesting characters, several levels of action, and a grand denouement. He covers a range of subjects from the running of a bed and breakfast to the thrills of ice climbing. His characters range from the quirky Gladys Turnbull, a wannabe writer with a head full of imaginary planets and people with a romanticized version of herself as the heroine, to the sad and tragic figure of Edith Shipton. He creates nice polar opposites even in his character of David Dean, as he struggles with issues he thought disappeared with his career change. David is an admirable hero, though, even as his wife Cynthia puts him through his paces. Dean takes on such subjects as abuse and marital stress in this rich and satisfying mystery.

For anyone who loves a ghost story, Derouin doesn't disappoint. Even while there is an actual murder being planned and executed, Derouin keeps the reader pointed in the direction of an old story that is resurfacing, complete with the shadows of past events. Mountain Ice is a most enjoyable story from a writer who is gaining more and more expertise.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

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Summary: Rocky Mountain Rope Tricks
Review: On the cover of "Mountain Ice," Derouin's third David Dean Mystery, there's a picture of an ice climber in action, and what he's doing looks so dangerous that if he took a careless step or two, his life might suddenly be over. To make his situation even more hazardous, he's in Ouray, Colorado, which, for a small town in the mountains, seems fraught with perils. When Dean retired from police work in Pennsylvania and bought a bed and breakfast in Ouray, he, his new wife and his stepfather thought they'd be settling into a basically restful routine, but as things have turned out, he probably wouldn't have encountered half as much intrigue if he'd been doing drug stakeouts for the Philadelphia police.

Of course we don't know what happened to the climber in the photo (although I have it on good authority that he didn't fall), but someone in Derouin's latest tale does take a nasty dive. At first we aren't told whether or not he survived, but there seems to be another urgent question: since his climbing rope was cut with a knife, who is the culprit? It's a nice, neat question, because all the prime suspects are guests at Dean's establishment. To heighten the tension, the victim is a thoroughly unpleasant gentleman who has managed to arouse the enmity of all concerned. In fact, in this third adventure Dean actually finds himself being investigated by the local police after scuffling furiously with the troublesome guest over a tasteless pass he's made at Dean's wife.

As in his first two books, Derouin presents a cast of colorful, eccentric characters, and gives us still another glimpse of Colorado's history and terrain. I'm just a little worried about the emotional state of David Dean and his family. Before the next suspicious looking guests check into their bed and breakfast, they should probably get away from Ouray for a little R and R of their own, in some quieter, less ominous place - like maybe New York or Miami.