Past
Imperfect
A John McIntire
Mystery
Kathleen Hills
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN:
1-59058-007-9 (1590580079)
Publication Date: June 2002
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis(from
the publisher): A grizzled Lake Superior fisherman with a massive
allergy to bees dies very early one morning alone on his boat. Was he
stung to death?
John McIntire, retired from a career in military intelligence and
striving to regain a place in his boyhood home after 30 years away, is
serving as township constable. He questions the easy verdict. The town
of St. Adele has little experience with violent death - or murder. Nor
does McIntire, despite fighting in two World Wars. Worse, all the
suspects are friends and neighbors, men and women he grew up with
"talking Swede." The dead man, last of a Norwegian family who came to
raise apples in the struggling rural township sandwiched between the
Huron Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula
and the southern shore of Lake Superior, had no real enemies despite
his gruff temper. And he had litle to leave aside from a heavily
mortgaged boat. So, who wanted to kill him?
Saddened by violence striking Utopia, worried his British bride might
cut and run, his task complicated by taciturn witnesses and six party
telephone lines, the naturally humorous McIntire brings a murderer to
justice while struggling to evolve a new perspective on a rural
community he has idealized for three decades.
Review:
Kathleen Hills' debut mystery, Past
Imperfect, marks the introduction of John McIntire of
Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Hills does a fine job defining the tone of the book with detailed
descriptions of the landscape and its people and capturing the
remoteness of area. Setting the book in the 1950's also seems
appropriate for the characters and locale. The pace of the prose is
just right making this a very enjoyable book to read. The mystery,
while not terribly original, is sufficiently intricate to keep the
reader interested, but not too difficult to follow.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan makes an interesting setting for
mysteries and Hills has carefully thought out the character of John
McIntire. Past Imperfect
is a terrific start to a most promising series
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing the ARC of Past Imperfect for this review.
Review Copyright © 2002 — 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 Past Imperfect ...
Location(s) referenced: Upper Peninsula, Michigan.