The
Man in the Moon
A Lindsey Scott Mystery
Tom Tancin
Destifire Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9797635-0-9 (0979763509)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9797635-0-2 (9780979763502)
Publication Date: October 2007
List Price: $12.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): After twelve Pocono University students are murdered,
the local chief of police decides to call on the services of the number
one crime solver in America. Dubbed the 'solver of the unsolvable',
Lindsey Scott is the best in the field. Lindsey begins profiling the
victims and the killer to solve the case before more bodies accumulate.
She starts to get visits from a professor at the local university. The
professor helps her find clues she missed and the clues lead her to the
next murder site. With a stakeout setup, Lindsey is certain they will
finally capture the 'Man in the Moon'. The killer however, is a no show
and, apparently, has outsmarted Lindsey with another murder.
Eight college kids are found dead, bodies stacked one on top of the
other forming a dam in a creek. Lindsey recalls a college lecture on
pareidolia, the phenomenon in which we mistake an image for something
it is not. She remembers that the 'Man in the Moon' is an example of
pareidolia and uses that to start reevaluating the killer. With twenty
college kids murdered, Lindsey must use all of her skills, and the
resources she obtains from the investigation, to demystify the 'Man in
the Moon' and prevent him from killing again. Can she solve the case to
uphold her reputation as the 'solver of the unsolvable' and release a
town from the hands of terror?
Review: Tom Tancin introduces Detective Lindsey Scott in The Man in the Moon, a serial killer mystery. Although Scott works out of Washington D.C.,
she is called all over the country to solve crimes that seem to be
unsolvable. She is a divorced woman with two children who live with
their father in Northampton, Pennsylvania. The story takes place in and
around Pocono.
Twelve students have already been killed. The first two were found at
the bottom of the lake locked in their car; the coroner concluded they
accidentally drowned. The next four (two couples) were found on the
grounds of a local college campus in the apple orchard near the biology
lab. They had eaten toxic berries, although investigators could find no
berries on the grounds. The next three couples were found shot to death
in the field where the yearly October Harvest had been. No gun or
bullets were found anywhere in the field. These crimes have nothing in
common yet reflect a serial killer at work. The “solver of the
unsolvable”, Lindsey Scott is brought in but before she cracks
the case, eight more students are poisoned.
The identity of the serial killer in The Man in the Moon,
dubbed the "man in the moon", is obvious from the earliest pages, so
the appeal here is in the investigative process. The clues to the
pattern of the murders are quite clever and Tancin's narrative
keeps the story suspenseful. The most significant problem with the book
is in the character of Lindsey Scott and the introduction of her
dysfunctional family that detracts greatly from the story. Scott's
dedication to her job may be admirable, but her lack of love or
interest in her children is appalling.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Man in the Moon and to Tom Tancin for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Omnimystery keywords for The Man in the Moon
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Location(s) referenced: Pocono, Pennsylvania.