Dead Whales Tell No Tales: A Thomas Martindale Mystery

Rating:
Summary: A Real Pagae Turner
Review: Dead Whales Tell No Tales is a great followup to Lovell's popular Murder at Yaquina Head! His protagonist, college professor and amateur sleuth, Thomas Martindale is a very real and "human" character who is driven in his desire to help those who he knows are in need.

Highly recommended! An easy read...lots of suspense and fun. Lovell keeps you guessing whodunit until the very end!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read from an accomplished writer
Review: Ron Lovell is presently on the Journalism staff at Oregon State University. His career has spanned several writing positions in New York, Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles. He has written thirteen textbooks, and Dead Whales Tell No Tales is the successor to his first Thomas Martindale mystery, Murder at Yaquina Head.

Thomas Martindale is co-teaching a seminar on whales with Susan Foster, a marine biologist and former lover; Randy Webb, a journalism colleague; and Howard Phelps, professor and world renowned expert on marine biology. Several special interest groups are among the student body, including a Japanese fisheries minister, and Eskimo whaling commissioner, and a fringe radical environmental group. Naturally, the atmosphere is tense with whaling interests verses environmentalists, and it is not surprising that the Susan Foster's indubitably accurate report on the whale population is discredited and a new report more in tune with whaling interests is substituted. But when Howard Phelps is found murdered in the mouth of a beached whale, the plot thickens, as they say:

"Susan Foster. I have a warrant for your arrest for the murder of Howard Phelps. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present while you are being questioned. If you cannot afford a lawyer..."

Marine biology is just another area that is begging for a great mystery to be written. The plight of the whales is an International concern, and Lovell does a thorough job of outlining the forces locked in battle and the reasons for the fight. He spins a straightforward tale full of interesting side trails, such as the lure of big money to professors who are supposed to be our leading minds, but who all too often succumb to the temptation of money and [physical activity] to undermine their position in our society. His characters are bigger than life, and his description of the Oregon coastline is simply stunning. Dead Whales contains a first-rate plot that snags the reader from the first page and doesn't let go until the final denouement. Thomas Martindale is an entertaining hero who exacts his revenge on his former love who has done him wrong just as he rescues her from certain doom. An excellent read from an accomplished writer.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer