Prime Suspects--A Clone Detective Mystery, by Jim Bernheimer

 

 

Prime Suspects – A Clone Detective Mystery

Right off the bat I knew I was going to at least like this tale – after all who doesn’t like clones? Written by one of my favorite indie authors, Jim Bernheimer, Prime Suspects – a Clone Detective Mystery exceeded even my very high expectations. 

The story opens when homicide detective David Bagini awakens on a strange world in a hospital. Gradually he realizes he is a clone.  Having no memories of why his Prime (Dave #1) entered into a clone contract, he wants answers.  Told in the first person, we follow Dave as he has a very rude awakening when he realizes that despite his memories, he is a clone. To make matters worse, he finds he is the 42^nd clone in Bagini line. Then, he meets Daves 16 and 29, and things get both interesting and hilarious. 

It turns out is his Prime has been murdered and Bagini Forty-Two is now in charge of the investigation. Despite having a head full of the memories of cases and police procedures, this is actually Dave42’s first real case.

Dave 42 soon learns the only reason he was created is because all the clues point at one of his 41 fellow clones having done the murder, and they needed one viable clone that they knew without a shadow of a doubt couldn’t possibly have done the murder.

This is bad, because all 41 Daves already know all his tricks and know exactly how he thinks, better than he does. Dave 42 will have to think up something they would not expect.

This is a gritty, grown-up tale about gritty grown-up people. It is a uniquely told tale of murder, mayhem, and misbehaving which had me hooked from page one. Of course, battling clones of himself provides ample opportunity for circular reasoning and much of the introspection Bernheimer’s heroes are famous for.  I loved the dark, at times sleazy characters and situations which populate this tale.

All in all, I give this book a full 5 stars for providing me with one of the best reads of this fall!  I liked it so well, I bought book one of his Dead Eye series. I can't wait to get started!

The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling

The Casual Vacancy

J. K. Rowling is an extremely strong writer, and is brilliant at crafting and peopling her tales. First off, you need to set aside aside Harry Potter and read this book as if it were the only work of hers you’ve ever read.  If you go into this expecting Hogwarts and all the gang reinvented, you will be disappointed. You'll love or hate this book on the strength of her work, not because it is part of a mega-phenomenom. This tale is about ordinary people, living rather mundane lives. Their politics are mundane, their motives are the usual trifling things which motivate petty people. These are not always nice people.  That said, I would recommend this book to those who read literary fiction. This is an adult book, for adult readers.

Councilman Barry Fairbane dies unexpectedly, and this leaves a vacancy on the town council, leaving the little town of Pagford in shock.

Pagford is, on the surface, a postcard English village, complete with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but beneath the surface, the citizens cope with poverty, drug abuse, child abuse, rape, and mental illness along with all the social illnesses which lie hidden under the mask of civility in most communities. Rowling explores this underbelly with sharp wit, cutting, sarcastic humor and sly social commentary.

The empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the focus of an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations. The characters are well drawn and in true Rowling style, you see them fully before you, warts and all.  They curse, they commit terrible crimes and they are violent toward each other in ways that are both heinous and reprehensible. The youth curse, commit crimes and everything else real youth regrettably do. There are raw, violent scenes  depicted in this tale, and each scene is believable and drew me in. 

The reason I can only give this book four out of five stars is there are some places where it is a bit slow; but I stuck with it through those few places and I’m glad I did.

Over all this is a good effort, and shows Rowling’s understanding of human nature. HOWEVER -  I was unimpressed with the price of the Kindle download, and feel that for most people it would be a better investment to wait and buy the book as a paperback when it comes out, because at $17.99 per download it is most definitely overpriced.

Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C.L. Bevill

Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C.L. Bevill is a laugh-fest from page one.

Bubba Snoddy and the good folks in his small town of Pegramville, Texas are celebrating a sunny Christmas festival, complete with a parade and candy-cane swirl martinis.  Unbeknownst to Sheriff John Headrick, the Pegramville Women’s Club has donated the decorations for his office using funds raised by Bubba Snoddy’s mother, Miz Demetrice’s illegal gambling ring. Even Bubba’s basset hound, precious, is dressed for season, in her special doggy antlers. Best of all, the woman of Bubba’s dreams, Deputy Willodean Gray is, upon occasion, giving Bubba an encouraging smile.

Bubba’s already complex life has become even more complicated by the fact he has family visiting for the holidays from Louisiana, along with a maiden aunt from Dallas. The youngest Snoddy, ten year old Brownie is a riot, as is the cook-housekeeper, Miz Adelia.  Miz Demetrice is terrified her relatives-by –marriage are going to rip-off the tattered treasures of infamous, broken-down Snoddy Mansion; but still felt compelled to invite them anyway. Brownie is the son of Bubba’s late father’s now deceased younger brother.  Beauregard died in prison while serving ten to twenty for bank robbery. Bubba feels sure Brownie didn’t inherit a lot of intelligence, as Uncle Beau had robbed a bank next to a police station during lunch hour.  His other relatives, Fudge and Virtna Snoddy are adept at carrying all sorts of possessions out to their truck, and he has become adept at intercepting them.

Unfortunately, Bubba finds another dead body – yes he had apparently found one previously which had caused him no end of trouble before the tale picks up - and this time it’s a man in a Santa Suit. He turns out to be Steve Killebrew, a habitually dishonest auto mechanic. Words had passed between him and Bubba regarding a defective fuel pump. Once again, Bubba is suspected of murder, thus scotching his plans for Deputy Willodean.

Bubba’s hilarious adventures kept me wondering right up to the last chapter, and I was laughing all the way. Bubba’s family creates no end of trouble for him and his rival, deputy sheriff Big Joe, really wants to send him away for life, but Sheriff John manages to keep things on track.

By page eight I was so involved with these wonderful people that I couldn’t be bothered to cook a meal until the book was done. Though there is a backstory, this book is the first in the series, and while it finishes up this mystery, they are left with another to solve in the next book, Bubba and the Missing Woman.  This tale is unabashedly folksy, and right on the money for a rainy-day book.

All of C.L. Bevill’s books are available at both Amazon.com for the Kindle and Barnes and Noble for the Nook; and this one was listed at the fine price of .99, as are the follow-up tales in this series.  I recommend it to anyone who loves a cozy mystery with violent overtones, and peopled with characters you want to know!

UPDATE:  Since publishing this post  I have  discovered that this is indeed the second book in the series, the first of which is 'Bubba and the Dead Woman' .  I must say this explains the heavy backstory, and I now am off to read it!  This just proves that C.L. Bevill's work stands alone or as as a series, which is what I am always looking for in a cozy read.  Awesome!