The Mosquito Tapes
Non-series
Chris
Holmes
Highland Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9823615-1-3 (0982361513)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9823615-1-1 (9780982361511)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $12.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Jack Youngblood is a ghoul. That's what his friends
call him. More comfortable in the morgue than the coffee shop, Jack is
San Diego's Chief Medical Examiner. Dead bodies are his business. A
twice-divorced recovering alcoholic, Jack hasn't had a date since he's
been sober. His only commitment is to his work; his only love is Lilly
the Lab who shares his home.
When red-haired, green-eyed Jill Hanraty, a Forensic Investigator,
joins his department, Jack falls for her like a mountain climber losing
his grip. Together they investigate a pair of baffling homicides. Jill
becomes more than Jack's colleague -- more than a friend. Until she
betrays him.
Part love story, part forensic police procedural, this fast-paced novel
is full of chases, plot twists, a dramatic climax, and an on-again,
off-again romance as mysterious as the murder investigations themselves.
Review: Chris
Holmes' latest thriller, The
Mosquito Tapes, features Dr. Jack Youngblood, Chief Medical
Examiner for the city of San Diego, investigating the deaths of two
men, found in the same general vicinity but both, inexplicably and most
unlikely, without any identification.
Jack "studies the dead for a living." His friends call him a ghoul,
which he readily admits he is, but he also loves his job. He received
his first microscope when he was just 8 years old, and studied
everything he could: yeast cells, hair and fur, amoeba from the local
pond, and more. And he's working in a profession that allows him to
continue to study the minutiae of life. Or death, as the case may be.
His current case involves two men. The first is a young man shot in the
forehead, no ID, no distinguishing marks, no money, no jewelry. He was
found on the side of a road not far from a local Indian casino. It also
wasn't far from a tract of Federal property on which the company
Biologistics is located. The second is also a young man, this one dead
from a hit-and-run. Again, no ID, no distinguishing physical
characteristics, but he did have $3000 in his pants pocket and a dead
mosquito in a jacket pocket. He, too, was found in the same general
area as the first man. Are their deaths related? Might the two men have
known each other?
Jack is assisted in his investigation by a new forensic specialist,
Jill Hanraty. She's very good at her job, but she's also a stunner to
look at. Jack, divorced from his first wife, a widower following his
second marriage, a Labrador named Lilly his only companion, realizes he
has feelings for his new partner, which may complicate further what is
already a very complicated case.
The Mosquito Tapes is a
most unusual mystery, fascinating and extraordinary. The author seems
to clearly know his science, incorporating the latest forensic
methodology into Jack's investigation in a manner that furthers the
plot without weighing it down. The relationship between Jack and Jill
is both touching as it develops and heartbreaking as it unwinds. Allow
for plenty of time when starting this captivating novel; it will be
hard to put down.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Mosquito Tapes and to Chris Holmes for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Mosquito Tapes? How would you rate it?
Medical thrillers by this author ...
The Mosquito Tapes
Highland Press (Trade Paperback), June 2009
ISBN-10: 0-9823615-1-3 (0982361513)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9823615-1-1 (9780982361511)
Omnimystery keywords for The Mosquito Tapes ...
Location(s) referenced: San Diego, California.
