Behind the Redwood Door
A Guy Mallon Mystery by John M. Daniel
Review: When the editor of a local newspaper is murdered, Guy Mallon is recruited to replace him … putting him squarely in the middle of multi-generation family feud in Behind the Redwood Door, the third mystery in this series by John M. Daniel.
Guy and his wife Carol own the Scarecrow Bookstore, a used bookshop in Jefferson City, a small coastal town well north of San Francisco, where the couple used to own a publishing company. Carol runs the business without much need of help from Guy, leaving him to enjoy the peace and quiet of the region and to pursue his interest, local history. After Pete Thayer, editor and writer for The Jefferson Nickel, is killed behind their favorite tavern, River Webster, who owns the paper, asks Guy to fill in for Pete. Guy agrees, but only if he can write about the town's history, bringing to life accounts of times gone by. But then the Scarecrow is broken into, with books on the town's history destroyed. Other acts of vandalism follow. River suspects it is the work of Seamus Connolly, owner of the rival paper the Jefferson Republican. Connolly's family has been at odds with the Websters for well over 150 years, since Jefferson City's founding in the 1860s. But Guy isn't so sure, and looks to the past to determine if he can find something that might help explain what's happening in the present.
Behind the Redwood Door is as much history as mystery, and fans of either — or both — genres will enjoy the storyline here. The history is (presumably) a clever blending of generally known facts from the region and a fictional recreation of roots of the town of Jefferson City. The whodunit element is nicely constructed, the murder mystery peppered with plenty of red herrings. Also noteworthy is the setting along the northern California coast, which is drawn with details that make it come alive, both in the past and the present.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Behind the Redwood Door.
Acknowledgment: Dark Oak Mysteries provided a copy of Behind the Redwood Door for this review.
Review Copyright © 2012 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Location(s) referenced in Behind the Redwood Door: Northern California; San Francisco
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Behind the Redwood Door by John M. Daniel
Publisher: Dark Oak Mysteries
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-61009-023-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-61009-023-0
Publication Date: November 2011
List Price: $14.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Guy and Carol Mallon own a used bookstore on the north coast of California, a land of rocky shores and redwood forests, with a rich history of gold, lumber, Native Americans, and hardy entrepreneurs. They are content with their small-town life until Pete Thayer, their friend and the publisher of the local alternative newspaper, is stabbed to death behind their favorite tavern. Urged on by Pete’s girlfriend, River Webster, Guy begins to poke around, uncovering a past festering with power politics, a newspaper war, a multigenerational family feud, marijuana traffic — and murder. Guy’s investigation takes him from the town square to the harbor to the forests and into the mountains, where he must confront evil in the form of a bully nearly twice his size.