The
Kingdom Where Nobody Dies
A John McIntire
Mystery
Kathleen Hills
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-476-7 (1590584767)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-476-7 (9781590584767)
Publication Date: December 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): On a stifling mid-summer day in 1951, eleven-year-old
Claire Hofer descends from her perch in a pine tree and sets out to
take lunch to her father, who's raking hay. As she nears the field, she
hears no rumbling tractor and sees only an unfriendly-looking stranger
scuffling through the stubble toward her. She turns and runs, but there
is no escaping the troubles to come. The man is Township Constable John
McIntire, and Claire's father is dead.
McIntire finds the crime baffling. Reuben Hofer had only lived in the
old St. Adele Schoolhouse since early May; hardly long enough to make
enemies. His family had little contact with anyone in the community
save the Catholic priest and Doctor Mark Guibard, who'd been attending
Hofer's chronically ill, morbidly obese wife. But Hofer was not exactly
the newcomer McIntire had believed. During the war, he'd been
incarcerated only a few miles away in a CPS camp---a camp for the
rebellious conscientious objectors that the church-run institutions
couldn't handle. The spotlight of a murder investigation causes greater
misery for already devastated by misfortune and poverty. And McIntire
confronts a fumbling nemesis in the bewildered and frightened, but
determined, Claire.
Review:
The Kingdom Where
Nobody Dies is the fourth mystery in this series by
Kathleen Hills, featuring Upper Peninsula Township
Constable John McIntire. The series is set in the early 1950s.
Reuben Hofer didn't have a friend in the world. Though new to the
community, he was disliked to the point of being hated by everyone who
knew him, including his own family. When he was found dead, shot in the
back while on a tractor in his fields, no one mourned his death.
McIntire and local sheriff Pete Koski begin an investigation into the
man's life and find he's not the newcomer they originally thought.
During the war, Hofer had been confined as a rebellious conscientious
objector in a nearby facility. On the rare occasions when men were
allowed to leave, they frequented a local bar and poker room. Those who
remembered him, including a former camp guard and saloon owner,
recalled he couldn't hold his liquor but was very adroit at playing
poker, but ill-tempered and unlikeable. McIntire and Kosky have a
difficult time sorting out fact from fiction in determining who wanted
to kill Hofer, and why.
Though the plot of The
Kingdom Where Nobody Dies is intriguing and has its
moments, particularly when it incorporates sometimes obscure historical
facts into the story, it pales in comparison to the book's rich
character development and setting. As in previous books in the series,
McIntire is an exceptionally well drawn, complex character that fits
perfectly into his remote, mid-20th century environment. But in this
novel, the character of Claire, the dead man's daughter, stands apart
from the rest. She's really quite special, with deep emotions and a
story unto herself.
Readers who live in, or are
familiar with, Michigan's Upper Peninsula will take special delight in
reading The Kingdom
Where Nobody Dies. Everyone else will simply take pleasure
in a remarkably well written book.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Past Imperfect
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2002
ISBN-10: 1-59058-007-3 (1590580079)
Hunter's Dance
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), January 2004
ISBN-10: 1-59058-103-2 (1590581032)
Witch Cradle
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), March 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-254-3 (1590582543)
The Kingdom
Where Nobody Dies
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-476-7 (1590584767)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-476-7 (9781590584767)
Omnimystery keywords for The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies
...
Location(s) referenced: Upper Peninsula, Michigan.