Windy City

Rating:
Summary: A Detective Story about Detective Stories
Review: Bona fide Chicago policeman Hugh Holton wrote this fresh, genre-blurring Ed McBain/Mayor Daley/Stephen King/Jessica Fletcher/Bela Lagosi/Cruella DeVille kind of book about a too-rich dastardly but dynamic Chicago duo who are stealing the modus operendi of murder mystery book villians. Can they be stopped? It's a vibrant, fast-paced tour of the Windy City from someone who knows wherefrom he writes.

Rating:
Summary: Fan-Freaking-Tastic!
Review: My local library maintains a "recently deceased authors" display and when I was reading the obit on Robert Ludlum, I glanced over and saw the Hugh Holton display. Chicago police procedural-looked decent- picked up Windy City. Wow! what a rush! A procedural with "serial killer novel" moments of genuine horror and a golden age detective murder scheme. The murders are done in the style of various mysteries by some of the novel's characters. Sounds like a plotline from a Christie/Queen/Carr style puzzle book of the 30s but I don't recall them ever using it. Cole and his detectives are believable well developed characters. The villains are a truly evil couple who could hold their one against a certain cannibal named Hannibal in the creepy category. An excellent page-turner which has led me to Holton's other books.

Rating:
Summary: READ
Review: See my review of "Presumed Dead."