The Muted Mermaid by Del Staecker, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Del Staecker introduces Rutledge "Ledge" Trabue in The Muted Mermaid, an exciting and absorbing mystery of murder among the business elite in Nashville.

While boating down Tennessee's Cumberland River, Ledge comes upon a fallen tree in the water that has trapped the body of a young woman, a body that Ledge believes had apparently been dumped in the river with the expectation that it would disappear over a dam and not be found until it was miles away. Someone got careless and Ledge is now caught in the middle.

The woman is quickly identified as Karen Blaine. Karen's father, Win, just as quickly assumes Ledge is the killer though the police somewhat inexplicably rule the death a suicide. Though Win doesn't quite believe that Ledge is innocent, he agrees to allow him to help find the true cause of his daughter's death. As Ledge starts on his quest, he calls an old friend, a former cop, for help. Others quickly get involved as allies in his investigation including a cab driver, his wife, son and daughter-in-law. Even the medical examiner of Nashville participates in finding the truth. With this unusual group of people who, like a secret organization become tight-knit and tight-lipped, they work in their own way to determine who may have killed Karen, and potentially several others, and why.

One of the best elements of The Muted Mermaid is the characters which are so well developed that they become like new neighbors to the reader. Though each adds their own expertise to the case, their camaraderie makes their collective investigation more meaningful. The murder mystery plot is also well done though it is possibly not as suspenseful (from a "whodunit" perspective) as it might have been.

Should successive books featuring Ledge Trabue be as character-driven as The Muted Mermaid, it bodes well for a series worth reading now and looking forward to.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Muted Mermaid.

Acknowledgment: Del Staecker provided a copy of The Muted Mermaid for this review.

Shaved Ice
Cable Publishing (Hardcover), August 2008
ISBN-13: 9781934980125; ISBN-10: 1934980129

The Muted Mermaid

A Ledge Trabue Mystery by Del Staecker