The Ragged End of Nowhere
Non-series
Roy
Chaney
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-58253-6 (0312582536)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-58253-1 (9780312582531)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $24.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Bodo Hagen thought his family had left Las Vegas for
good. He had joined the CIA and moved to Berlin, while his younger
brother had followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the
French Foreign Legion. For a while they were free from the criminal
underworld upon which the Vegas Strip was built.
But when his Legion contract ended, Bodo's brother returned to Las
Vegas. Five days later his body was found on the edge of the desert.
Word is that he’d returned from Europe with a valuable—and
possibly stolen—ancient relic to sell. Now Bodo must come back
and track down that missing artifact—and with it, his
brother’s killer.
Review: Winner
of the 2008 Tony
Hillerman Prize for best first novel set in the southwest US and
representing the style of the late Tony
Hillerman, Roy Chaney crafts a murder mystery surrounding the theft
of an unusual artifact in The Ragged
Edge of Nowhere.
Bodo Hagen and his brother Ronnie went their separate ways following
the death of their father. Bodo joined the CIA and was stationed in
Berlin while Ronnie joined the French Foreign Legion, a unit of the
French Army in which their father also served. When Bodo receives word
that Ronnie had been murdered in the desert outside their hometown of
Las Vegas, he returns to not only pay his respects, but look into who
might have wanted his brother dead ... and why.
It seems Ronnie had been trying to fence a rare artifact, a wooden hand
with a broken finger. A dealer in antiquities believes it may have
originated at a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church, part of a
statue of Jesus that was crafted with articulated features that was
believed destroyed by fire. Quite unique and very valuable, if it can
be found and authenticated. As Bodo continues his investigation it
becomes increasingly clear to him that he's not seeing the whole
picture, and when certain individuals think he may have the hand, or at
least know where it is, his life, too, is in danger.
Chaney has a real flair for time and place, deftly painting Las Vegas
as a city of hopes and dreams, but also one of disappointment and
despair. Some readers may groan or roll their eyes believing this is
yet another religious artifact thriller, and to be fair, the basic
plotline is rather derivative, but The
Ragged Edge of Nowhere is far more nuanced. Not only is it
exceptionally well written and populated with intricately drawn
characters, the artifact's origin will likely come as a surprise, as
will the fact that it is a real, historical object.
Though not indicated as the first in a series featuring Bodo Hagen, the
abrupt manner in which this book ends suggests a sequel with this most
interesting character may be forthcoming.
Special thanks to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of The Ragged End of Nowhere for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Ragged End of Nowhere? How would you rate it?
Novels by this author …
The Ragged End of Nowhere
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), November 2009
ISBN-10: 0-312-58253-6 (0312582536)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-58253-1 (9780312582531)
Omnimystery keywords for The Ragged End of Nowhere ...
Location(s) referenced: Las Vegas, Nevada.
