The Commission
A
Sam Kincaid Mystery
Michael Norman
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-358-2 (1590583582)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-358-6 (9781590583586)
Publication Date: February 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): Levi Vogue, Chairman of the powerful Utah Board of
Pardons and Parole, is gunned down in the driveway of his home as he
returns from a late evening tryst with Sue Ann Winkler, an exotic
dancer employed in a Salt Lake City strip club.
Sam Kincaid, Chief of the Special Investigations Branch (SIB) of the
Utah Department of Corrections, is assigned to help Salt Lake City
Police Department homicide detective Lt. Kate McConnell solve Vogue's
murder.
The investigation soon leads Kincaid and McConnell into the seedy world
of prostitution and strip clubs. Ultimately, the investigation focuses
on Charles (Slick) Watts, a violent ex-convict with a long criminal
history and a score to settle with Levi Vogue. But before Watts can be
apprehended, his body is discovered at an abandoned military base in
Wendover, Nevada.
When the medical examiner concludes that Watt's death was a homicide
elaborately staged to look like a suicide, Kincaid and McConnell are
forced to turn their attention to a complex conspiracy behind the
murders.
Ultimately, the investigation leads Kincaid and McConnell inside the
Utah state prison to a small group of corrupt prison employees known as
the Commission. As the police close in, Commission members turn, first
on each other, and then on Kincaid.
Review:
Michael Norman introduces a rather unique character in the annals of
police procedurals, Sam Kincaid, Chief of the Special Investigations
Branch of the Utah Department of Corrections, based in Salt Lake City,
in The Commission.
This is not a typical job description, and it makes for a unique and
largely successful approach to this genre of mystery fiction.
Following the execution-style murder of Levi Vogue, the chairman of the
Utah Pardons and Paroles board, Kincaid is asked to assist in the
investigation. Despite the outward appearance of being an upstanding
citizen of the community, Kincaid soon discovers that Vogue had a
darker side. The convoluted trail ultimately leads to a rogue group of
prison employees called The Commission who administer their own brand
of justice to those whom they deem deserve it.
The primary appeal of The
Commission is in the character of Sam Kincaid. Norman
writes in a relaxed, almost folksy first person narrative that suits
the principal character well. As a police procedural, the reader is
taken step-by-step through the investigative process and participates
with Kincaid in the unfolding investigation. The story is competently
plotted, and serves well as an introduction to a new series.
However, there are a few stylistic flaws which mar this otherwise
strong debut that could have, and should have, been corrected during
another round of editing. Excepting the prologue that sets up the
murder of Vogue, Norman uses first person narrative for the first third
of the book. Then, suddenly, there's an italicized passage that
presages danger for Kincaid. It's jarring and unnecessary. Following
this, and with increasing frequency, Norman scatters third person
narrative sections that seem to have been inserted after the completion
of the book. It's as if he thought that additional explanation was
needed and tossed in a paragraph or two to help fill in some blank
spots. Without exception, each of these sections could have been
rewritten from Kincaid's perspective, providing a smooth, cohesive
narrative throughout.
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of The Commission for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
The Commission
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-358-2 (1590583582)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-358-6 (9781590583586)
Silent
Witness
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), May 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-498-8 (1590584988)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-498-9 (9781590584989)
Omnimystery keywords for The Commission ...
Location(s) referenced: Salt Lake City.