Barbados Heat
A
Mick Sever Mystery
Don
Bruns
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-30492-7 (0312304927)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30492-8 (9780312304928)
Publication Date: November 2003
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): Congressman Robert Shapply is no saint. A former music
insider who fleeced his clients for millions, he now leads the crusade
against offensive rap lyrics. So when he is attacked and murdered in
front of his Adams Morgan home, the list of suspects - from former
clients to current headliners - is endless. But the killer might be
closer to home: police arrest Shapply's son and charge him with murder.
For music journalist Mick Sever, covering this case is personal. Mick,
a former client of the congressman and best friend of the accused
killer, knows the case isn't quite as simple as it appears. He believes
his friend's claims of innocence and sets out to prove them. With the
help of his ex-wife and an old friend, Mick must penetrate the bizarre
Shapply family - the icy matriarch, Alicia, the disturbed daughter,
Amber, and the minister brother-in-law - to find the truth. The
investigation will take Mick from the halls of the Capitol in Washington DC to the beaches of Barbados. Threatened by unknown
assailants and dangers at every turn, Mick becomes the hunted as the
killer turns the tales in a stunning climax.
Review:
Rock-and-roll journalist Mick Sever returns in Barbados Heat
(after last year's Jamaica
Blue), a fairly routine mystery with unoriginal and
stereotypical characters.
Barbados Heat
reads like a plot outline for a screenplay. One can't help but start
imagining the actors who would be cast for the various players
(co-starring Ving Rhames as T-Beau, Joan Allen as Alicia Shapply, ...).
And though some of the book is set in Barbados, Bruns never takes
advantage of the setting, failing to evoke the character of the people
and culture of this country.
There is a rushed feel to this book. Bruns favors short chapters (there
are 66 in 302 pages) for no obvious literary reason. Oddly, the first
two chapters begin with a specific date and a precise time (suggesting
these may be important), but are not mentioned again. And somehow Sever
is able to observe Ginny while talking on the phone with her, a
thousand miles apart. Minor points to be sure, but a better author of a
better mystery would have paid attention to these details.
Review Copyright © 2003 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Jamaica Blue
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), October 2002
ISBN-10: 0-312-30490-0 (0312304900)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30490-4 (9780312304904)
Barbados Heat
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), November 2003
ISBN-10: 0-312-30492-7 (0312304927)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-30492-8 (9780312304928)
South Beach
Shakedown
Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover), September 2006
ISBN-10: 1-933515-02-3 (1933515023)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-02-1 (9781933515021)
St. Barts
Breakdown
Oceanview Publishing (Hardcover), March 2008
ISBN-10: 1-933515-12-0 (1933515120)
ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-12-0 (9781933515120)
Omnimystery keywords for Barbados Heat ...
Location(s) referenced: Barbados, Washington D.C.