Lonesome Song (Shep Harrington Small Town Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT STORY!!!
Review: Elliott Light is a great storyteller. He keeps your nose in this book from beginning to end and leaves you with a heartfelt concern for the main character, Shep and the members of the poor farm. Through this book, I feel as though Shep and I are now friends. I have genuine feelings for this fella. I want to know how he's feeling and if he's eating well! This Shep is one heck of a character and I hope he continues to do great things in small ways. He may be a small town guy, but he has a city boy's wit and intuition. Shep also has a bit of a heart, always trouble there. Read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Recommended reading for mystery buffs
Review: Elliott Light's Lonesome Song: A Shep Harrington Smalltown Mystery is the darkly compelling, splendidly written tale about a country-western singer whose death is abruptly ruled a suicide without investigation. Shep Harrington, a perturbed, 32-year-old disbarred lawyer, is determined to find out the truth of what happened. The more Harrington learns of the last minutes of the victim's life, the more disturbing parallels appear between Harrington's own past and the tragedy he seeks to solve. A fascinating, convoluted novel, Lonesome Song is very highly recommended reading for mystery buffs.

Rating:
Summary: Fine regional amateur sleuth
Review: The most famous person from the Lyle, Virginia area was Reilly Heartwood who sang under the moniker of C.C. Hollinger, a legendary country music great. Recently Reilly committed suicide though disbarred attorney Shep Harrington finds discrepancies on what he has learned about the death of his mentor. He cannot understand why there was no autopsy, a relatively tiny medical report, and no police investigation. He also struggles with the question "why now" when Reilly finally promised to reveal a secret to him about Shep's father.

Though burned by the justice system when people perjured and accused him of criminal activity that led to three years of prison before he was exonerated, Shep seeks the truth about Reilly for his own peace of mind and that of the sister of the music superstar. Shockingly, Shep learns he is the prime heir to the multi-million dollar estate. Even stranger is how several locals loathe Reilly to the point of denying him a Christian burial. As Shep digs deeper he perilously places himself in the middle of a town divided and on the verge of exploding.

Fans of regional amateur sleuths will take pleasure from Elliot Light's affable who-done-it. The story line combines sub-genre elements with recent historical tidbits such as Poor Farms that make for a powerful background, which in turn enhances the key cast members, especially the hero. The investigation is fun to follow because the evidence Shep finds conflicts between cover-up and suicide making a culprit difficult to identify if one even exists. LONESOME SONG is a delightful tale that will lead the audience to pursue Shep's next mystery, CHAIN THINKING.

Harriet Klausner