A Small Case of Murder

Rating:
Summary: A Small Case of Murder Spins a Big Case of Mystery
Review: A Small Case of Murder is set in the quaint, small town of Chester, West Virginia, where everyone knows everyone, and there is never a secret that someone doesn't know. In such a small intimate town, how many disappearances can be left unquestioned?

Following the death of his wife, Joshua Thornton, A Small Case of Murder's protagonist, leaves a promising career in the United States Navy's JAG division to move into his ancestral home across country with his five children. While clearing out the attic the children find a letter written to their grandmother postmarked 34 years ago, on the date of her and her husband's untimely deaths.

In the letter Lulu Jefferson wrote "...Remember that dead body we found in the Bosley barn?...I saw him today...I went to talk to the reverend and there was his picture on the wall." What dead body? His interest piqued, Joshua asks about Lulu and finds that in 1970 she died of a drug overdose, the same day that Joshua's parents died in a car accident. There is much more to this story than a 34 year old letter, it's a 34 year old mystery!

Today a double homicide has the whole town under a microscope. The state attorney general appoints Joshua special prosecutor to solve the crimes. In a small town where gossip flies as swiftly as a spring breeze it is impossible to know who to trust. Asking simple questions about events long ago could prove to be deadly for Joshua and his family.


Rating:
Summary: Lawyer uncovers a trail of death
Review: After the death of his wife, lawyer Joshua Thornton brings his children back to his native West Virginia where he intends to set up a law practice. But from the moment he steps into his new office, he begins discovering clues to a wave of crime that has held the town in fear for decades--a crime wave associated with murder, the drug trade, and intimately connected to the largest church in town. But a lawyer has to eat--and the criminals control the police and prosecutors in their county. What can one man do against the power and evil he faces?

As Thornton starts digging into the case, he discovers that a string of strange deaths have been associated with the Rev. Rawlings. The minister's wife, his daughter-in-law, Thornton's own parents and their friend Lulu, and a strange and unidentified man discovered by teenagers on prom night are all dead. If anything, death strikes more quickly once Thornton arrives with Rawlings' own granddaughter the next victim--pierced through the heart with a steel stake. Along with his recovering alcoholic cousin, Tad, Thornton will have to move quickly if he doesn't want to be the next victim--or put his children in danger.

Author Lauren Carr delivers an intriguing mystery--plenty of murder, a dark secret, criminals with powerful political connections, and a twist at the end. Carr's writing is strong and engaging. The story could have been stronger, however, if Thornton had done less talking and more action. The long interogation scenes seem like throwbacks to Perry Mason. Also, it could be just me, but I wish the characters had smiled and chuckled a bit less when they talked. After a while, it started to pull me out of the story.

There is a strong element of faith involved in the story. Thornton's quest is more than that of a lawyer seeing the truth, to a real degree, he is also fighting evil.


Rating:
Summary: A small case of murder but a great big murder mystery novel
Review: I had selected "A Small Case of Murder" as the novel I was going to read on my flight back home this week, although I assumed I would probably not finish it by the time I got back to the Zenith City. That was before the plane broke and the flight was delayed 12 hours, which gave me plenty of time to finish Laura Carr's mystery. More importantly, the novel was compelling enough that I did not mind finding a different seat in the airport to read each chapter of the novel (until the final two chapters and epilogue, which I read while eating dinner and ignoring Americans winning gold medals on the television). Suffice it to say, "A Small Case of Murder" is a good read.

After a brief prologue in the Spring of 1970, the story takes place in the Summer of 2004 when Joshua Thornton moves back to his home town of Chester, West Virginia. A recent widower, Thornton has retired early from the Navy, where he was a graduate of the Naval Academy and a J.A.G. lawyer, to provide a more stable environment for his five children. While cleaning out the family home the kids find a letter written to their grandmother that has never been opened, postmarked 34 years earlier on the very day that they were killed in a traffic accident. The letter speaks to a dead body that was found--and then disappeared--from the Bosley barn. When he reads the letter and learns the author of died the same day as his parents, Thornton becomes suspicious. Coincidences are not a part of how he sees the world. Besides, having convicted an admiral, the Thornton kids are convinced their father can easily solve a small case of murder, even 34 years later.

However, the key thing here is that the title is rather ironic, because eventually our hero does not have enough figures to count all of the dead bodies. Even when the state attorney general appoints him as a special prosecutor to solve the crimes, Thornton has his work cut out for him because one thing that has not changed in all the time he has been away from home is that the Reverend Orville Rawlings is still the biggest power in Chester, as well as the valley's drug lord. In addition to his children, who are more than willing to try and be helpful in the investigation, Thornton is aided in his endeavor by his cousin, Tad MacMillan. Now the town's doctor, MacMillan was once its legendary bad boy, and while his medical knowledge is of great help he also has more than one connection to the growing case that questions whether trusting his cousin is a good thing or a bad thing for our hero.

"A Small Case of Murder" is a complex mystery, but for a good reason, which is revealed at the end and certainly part of the fun. The best thing I liked about this book is that it takes Thornton a couple of chapters just to reveal "whodunnit," while until you get to that point you get to enjoy the intelligent conversations between the characters (there is almost as much happening interpersonally with these characters as there is in terms of solving all the murders). This is a "talking" mystery, where clues have to be unraveled and looked at from different directions to see how things might fit together. One of the other things I liked about this particular mystery was that I figured out a couple of the key pieces, and I like to think that is due more to my figuring out the clues rather than Carr telegraphing a couple of the pieces. Besides, there are so many pieces to this puzzle that you have to figure out a couple of them on your own.

As much as I enjoyed reading "A Small Case of Murder," I do have to say there was one thing about Carr's writing style that distracted from my pleasure. This was the tendency for characters to smirk, sneer, and snarl when they say things. Now, I am fully aware of how difficult it is to come up with words to use to describe somebody talking, but I really do not think that the good guys should be smirking, sneering, and snarling more than the bad guys. More importantly, I usually found that the situations in which they smirking, sneering, and snarling were going on were not really situations appropriate to those reactions. I look forward to her next mystery novel, especially if it involves the Thornton clan, but I also hope Carr goes on a search-and-destroy model for all those "s" words and substantially reduces them.


Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I met the author at a book signing in WV and got interested because the story takes place locally. Well, the town of Chester, WV and several surrounding ones are mentioned on occasion, but otherwise, this could be anywhere. There is no descripton of the small town or any of the truly fascinating places and characters you can find around here. Nevertheless, I'm always in the mood for a good mystery so I let that go. The only thing mysterious about this book, however, is how it ever got printed. The story is so unbelievably convoluted that I had to laugh at certain points. There is no suspense whatsoever, as you can tell from a mile away where the plot is going. The writing is amateurish at best. There are so many grammatical errors that it is impossible to understand some of the sentences. Often, you're left wondering who is talking at the moment or who/what is the object of a particular sentence. The characters are stereotypical and badly developed. It's impossible to feel anything about any of them, not hate, love or compassion.

Too bad, because the basic story idea is alright. With serious editorial help and a few less convoluted twists this might have been an enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: A Complex Murder Mystery
Review: In Lauren Carr's carefully constructed murder mystery, the protagonist Joshua Thornton, a JAG attorney on leave to care for his five children after the death of his wife, arrives in the small town of Chester, West Virginia, the place where he grew up and where he hopes his children will find stability. He is hoping for a quiet life as a single father. However, before the boxes have even been unpacked, his children uncover a mystery letter that suggests Chester might not be as idyllic as Joshua thought. Before long, Joshua is named as a special prosecutor to investigate a series of murders that may or may not be related to the letter written decades before. Is there a connection between the disappearing body that Joshua's parents stumbled upon and the charismatic Reverend Rawlings? What about the drug peddling of Rawlings' granddaughter Vicki and the addicted pharmacist? Who is Amber, and why does she know so much? And how does the deceased town doctor, the current sheriff, and Joshua's cousin Tad fit into the mystery?

The most painful part of reading this otherwise riveting novel is knowing that a commercial publisher would have snapped up this book and launched the author's career if not for the amateurish first fifty pages. Carr's manuscript probably never stood a chance because of the awkward writing - excessive adverbs, unnecessary dialogue tags, and inexact language. Characterizations are imprecise, particularly among Joshua's children, and keeping track of who's who can be cumbersome. However, once this story gets cooking, Carr proves herself an adept storyteller, juggling motives, clues, relationships, and red herrings like a pro. While the writing remains somewhat clumsy (several women "look becomingly" at our hero, and Joshua's children are often referred to as his "offspring" as though they were bear cubs) and the point-of-view shifts are dizzyingly inconsistent, the story itself takes over. And what a murder mystery it is! Even though readers will figure out crucial elements prior to the final revelation, there isn't enough time to contemplate all the twists Carr provides. The rush to the end is breathless.

Although this book desperately needed a few more revisions with a good editor, Carr's talent is obvious. For mystery lovers, this is a fun, rollicking ride - as long as you can overlook a few flaws. Hang onto your first editions of this book, as Carr has the ability to break into future best seller lists.

Rating:
Summary: Everything a great mystery novel should be - and then some
Review: It takes a special kind of writer to really pull off a good mystery without pulling any punches, taking any shortcuts, or losing the reader's commitment all the way up to the final page. Lauren Carr is one of those special writers. A Small Case of Murder is like a good mystery on steroids; everything starts out simple, with a mysterious little murder committed decades ago, but the plot soon becomes increasingly complex and increasingly fascinating. This is not a simple mystery - not by a long shot. I don't know if I have ever read a mystery with as many twists and turns along the way: you've got a 50-year string of murders covering two sides of the globe, all kinds of personal secrets being held close by the innocent and guilty alike, rampant speculation and discoveries about blood ties and familial relations among a fairly large subset of people, and plenty of characters worthy of your suspicion as the story unfolds. I did have to stop at times, re-read a sudden revelation, and pause to work out how this new piece of evidence could possibly be and what it might mean, yet Carr never allows the complexity of the web she is weaving to leave the reader by the wayside, lost and confused. You do have to be an active participant in the drama, though, if you are going to keep yourself from tripping up over all the loose ends that slowly come together on the pathway to the truth.

After the death of his wife, Joshua Thornton has left the Navy (where he worked as an investigator and prosecutor) and returned home to West Virginia to raise his five children. Cleaning out the old house, he finds an unopened letter mailed to his parents on the very day they died in an accident; here Josh learns that his parents and another couple discovered a dead body on their prom night only to find it gone when they got the sheriff out to the site. This letter soon becomes an important piece of evidence in an investigation of mammoth proportions; the story of the dead body his parents found becomes much more than the "small case of murder" Josh's son initially proclaims it to be. The criminal activity all centers on a prominent local preacher and his family; this man of the cloth and his children are already known to be the local drug lords (although no one has been able to prove it yet), but the onus of drug peddling pales in comparison to the body count that soon begins to stack up. I won't say any more about the plot. I really couldn't begin to do justice to this complex story, nor would I want to take a single iota of enjoyment from future readers of this riveting mystery.

Carr handles all of her characters in a wonderfully subtle manner, forcing us to consider each one a possible suspect at some point - and there are plenty of loosely connected crimes to go around. Of course, the murders of several potential suspects tend to shorten the reader's list as one goes along. Still, I went into the concluding chapters with little idea of how everything would actually play out - although I certainly had my suspicions (and was actually right on the money in a couple of cases, I'm quite proud to say). Then, just when you think everything is out in the open, Carr drops another little bomb right on you. Stepping away from the story now, I can only marvel at the beauty of Carr's intricate plot - and I mean marvel of the jaw-dropping kind.

Have I mentioned how addictive this story is? You might need to set your clock before picking this novel up, as you really can almost immediately immerse yourself completely in these pages. Carr never takes her foot off the gas, either, as you are bombarded time and time again with new crimes, new evidence, new bombshells, new suspicions. What I am essentially saying here is this: A Small Case of Murder is one of the most absorbing, fascinating, complex, and impressive mystery novels I have ever read. If you love a good mystery, you will absolutely go nuts over Lauren Carr's A Small Case of Murder.

Rating:
Summary: I could NOT put it down!
Review: This is a great mystery novel. Lots of twists and turns. The main character is quite likable and you just can't wait to see what happens at the end. I would recommend it to Grishman fans. I loved the writing style. Good character development and story line.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic Book
Review: this is one of those Books that you can't put down. you find yourself caught up in it&also with all the twists&turns you just don't have any idea how things shall end up.it truly captures the Mystery&pacing factory all at once. One of those Books that once you start reading it that you can't put down.

Rating:
Summary: A premium blend mystery
Review: Whenever I think of mystery books, which isn't often, my mind conjures up images of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, or Dashiell Hammett. More often I picture television mystery shows like "Murder She Wrote," "Poirot," or the wonderful "The Rockford Files." The mystery genre is, however, a genuine mystery to me. I just don't read that many books that fall under this rubric. I prefer horror novels, classics, or non-fiction books on history, politics, and philosophy. Oh, I've read a few of the better known mystery stuff, like most people have, but I tend to avoid them as a general rule. And then along comes someone like Lauren Carr, an author whose whodunit book "A Small Case of Murder" is such a winner on every level that I quickly wondered why I've been ignoring the genre for so long. Unfortunately, a quick search for other books from this author turned up nothing, but I imagine that problem will soon be rectified if word gets out about this complex, massively entertaining story. I hesitate to make grandiose pronouncements about a genre I know little about, but this lady may well go places soon if this book is any indication.

Joshua Thornton, a recently retired lawyer who worked for the Navy, heads back to his childhood home in Chester, West Virginia to raise his five children after his wife passed away. The attorney seeks nothing but a restful atmosphere in which to recuperate from his personal tragedy, but events in this small town soon put an end to such naïve hopes. While cleaning out the attic of the Thornton place, one of the children discovers a letter hinting at a horrific discovery that took place on a nearby farm some thirty years ago. The letter writer, one Lulu Jefferson, recounted finding a corpse while out on a group date with Joshua's parents. Jefferson passed away under suspicious circumstances after writing the letter, as Joshua soon finds out, but the information revealed in the correspondence casts suspicion on one of the most powerful men in the area, the Reverend Orville Rawlings. As the story progresses, we discover that the Lulu Jefferson incident wasn't the only strange occurrence to attach itself to Rawlings and his odd clan. Soon, Thornton finds himself and his family caught up in a series of events that put the lawyer at odds with the aging minister.

With only his cousin Dr. Tad MacMillan and his childhood friend Jan Martin as allies, Thornton begins to investigate the Rawlings family. A double homicide involving childhood flame Beth Davis and Vicki Rawlings, the wayward granddaughter of Reverend Orville, leads to Joshua's appointment as a special prosecutor in the case, which further enflames the deteriorating relationship between the Rawlings and Thornton. Throw in a pushy reporter named Tess Bauer, a sheriff who might be on the take, the deceased town doctor with a few telling secrets stashed away, an enigmatic informant by the name of Amber, and you have all the fixings for one astonishing plot twist after another. The Rawlings clan is rotten to the core, evil incarnate perhaps, and Joshua Thornton aims to take them down hard once the case sinks its teeth into him. Who killed Beth Davis? Who killed Vicki Rawlings? And why are more bodies turning up on what seems like a daily basis? It will take all of Thornton's mental abilities to solve this difficult case. Moreover, he quickly finds out the hard way that his family faces extreme danger as he pushes towards a conclusion. I'm not even going to risk spoiling the conclusion except to say there's nary a butler to be found anywhere along the way.

"A Small Case of Murder" indeed! Bodies fall with frightening regularity in this extremely fast paced mystery thriller. Like all mystery stories, the book ends with a smashing denouement loaded with shocking revelations that has you thinking about the clues you missed along the way. What struck me full across the face, other than that this book is a cracking great mystery novel, are the "Peyton Place" qualities to the story. You've got a town, Chester, West Virginia, full of people living double lives. Dreadful debaucheries permeate the village, making me wonder exactly what it is in the water supply that would spawn such a cast of deviant characters. Even the heroes in the story boast an assortment of flaws. Tad MacMillan, for example, is a recovering alcoholic whose relationships with women in the area are shady even in the best of lights. Jan Martin, who runs the town drugstore, has an ugly temper and a recklessness that nearly results in criminal charges for not keeping track of her narcotics supply. Joshua Thornton, although he adores his kids, has a tough time reconciling his love for a case with becoming an effective single father. Carr seems to have a fondness for flawed personalities, a love that makes the book all the more realistic.

"A Small Case of Murder" suffers a few small flaws. There are more typos in the book than I like to see, not as many as other books have, but enough to occasionally disrupt the flow of the narrative. Too, I thought the Thornton kids were a tad too perfect, too untroubled, to stand as archetypes of the typical American family. The denouement, despite its deeply satisfying wrap up of the mystery, seemed too pat. I kept wondering why the ones facing the blame just didn't get up and walk out. Despite these problems, the book is a smashing good read. I can't imagine giving this anything less than five stars. Lauren Carr, we can only hope, will write more books in the near future. If you like mystery yarns, you'll want to read this one soon.

Rating:
Summary: A premium blend mystery
Review: Whenever I think of mystery books, which isn't often, my mind conjures up images of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, or Dashiell Hammett. More often I picture television mystery shows like "Murder She Wrote," "Poirot," or the wonderful "The Rockford Files." The mystery genre is, however, a genuine mystery to me. I just don't read that many books that fall under this rubric. I prefer horror novels, classics, or non-fiction books on history, politics, and philosophy. Oh, I've read a few of the better known mystery stuff, like most people have, but I tend to avoid them as a general rule. And then along comes someone like Lauren Carr, an author whose whodunit book "A Small Case of Murder" is such a winner on every level that I quickly wondered why I've been ignoring the genre for so long. Unfortunately, a quick search for other books from this author turned up nothing, but I imagine that problem will soon be rectified if word gets out about this complex, massively entertaining story. I hesitate to make grandiose pronouncements about a genre I know little about, but this lady may well go places soon if this book is any indication.

Joshua Thornton, a recently retired lawyer who worked for the Navy, heads back to his childhood home in Chester, West Virginia to raise his five children after his wife passed away. The attorney seeks nothing but a restful atmosphere in which to recuperate from his personal tragedy, but events in this small town soon put an end to such naïve hopes. While cleaning out the attic of the Thornton place, one of the children discovers a letter hinting at a horrific discovery that took place on a nearby farm some thirty years ago. The letter writer, one Lulu Jefferson, recounted finding a corpse while out on a group date with Joshua's parents. Jefferson passed away under suspicious circumstances after writing the letter, as Joshua soon finds out, but the information revealed in the correspondence casts suspicion on one of the most powerful men in the area, the Reverend Orville Rawlings. As the story progresses, we discover that the Lulu Jefferson incident wasn't the only strange occurrence to attach itself to Rawlings and his odd clan. Soon, Thornton finds himself and his family caught up in a series of events that put the lawyer at odds with the aging minister.

With only his cousin Dr. Tad MacMillan and his childhood friend Jan Martin as allies, Thornton begins to investigate the Rawlings family. A double homicide involving childhood flame Beth Davis and Vicki Rawlings, the wayward granddaughter of Reverend Orville, leads to Joshua's appointment as a special prosecutor in the case, which further enflames the deteriorating relationship between the Rawlings and Thornton. Throw in a pushy reporter named Tess Bauer, a sheriff who might be on the take, the deceased town doctor with a few telling secrets stashed away, an enigmatic informant by the name of Amber, and you have all the fixings for one astonishing plot twist after another. The Rawlings clan is rotten to the core, evil incarnate perhaps, and Joshua Thornton aims to take them down hard once the case sinks its teeth into him. Who killed Beth Davis? Who killed Vicki Rawlings? And why are more bodies turning up on what seems like a daily basis? It will take all of Thornton's mental abilities to solve this difficult case. Moreover, he quickly finds out the hard way that his family faces extreme danger as he pushes towards a conclusion. I'm not even going to risk spoiling the conclusion except to say there's nary a butler to be found anywhere along the way.

"A Small Case of Murder" indeed! Bodies fall with frightening regularity in this extremely fast paced mystery thriller. Like all mystery stories, the book ends with a smashing denouement loaded with shocking revelations that has you thinking about the clues you missed along the way. What struck me full across the face, other than that this book is a cracking great mystery novel, are the "Peyton Place" qualities to the story. You've got a town, Chester, West Virginia, full of people living double lives. Dreadful debaucheries permeate the village, making me wonder exactly what it is in the water supply that would spawn such a cast of deviant characters. Even the heroes in the story boast an assortment of flaws. Tad MacMillan, for example, is a recovering alcoholic whose relationships with women in the area are shady even in the best of lights. Jan Martin, who runs the town drugstore, has an ugly temper and a recklessness that nearly results in criminal charges for not keeping track of her narcotics supply. Joshua Thornton, although he adores his kids, has a tough time reconciling his love for a case with becoming an effective single father. Carr seems to have a fondness for flawed personalities, a love that makes the book all the more realistic.

"A Small Case of Murder" suffers a few small flaws. There are more typos in the book than I like to see, not as many as other books have, but enough to occasionally disrupt the flow of the narrative. Too, I thought the Thornton kids were a tad too perfect, too untroubled, to stand as archetypes of the typical American family. The denouement, despite its deeply satisfying wrap up of the mystery, seemed too pat. I kept wondering why the ones facing the blame just didn't get up and walk out. Despite these problems, the book is a smashing good read. I can't imagine giving this anything less than five stars. Lauren Carr, we can only hope, will write more books in the near future. If you like mystery yarns, you'll want to read this one soon.