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
Have you read The Commission? How would you rate it?
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, Utah.
