Fiddle
Game
A Herman Jackson
Mystery
Richard A. Thompson
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-455-4 (1590584554)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-455-2 (9781590584552)
Publication Date: January 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Herman Jackson has chosen St. Paul as his place of permanent exile
from Detroit,
where his former life as a bookie got too hot to hold. Now he leads a
respectable, low-profile life as a bail bondsman, selling second
chances to losers and looking over his shoulder. When a young woman
named Amy Cox leaves Jackson a priceless antique violin as security for
her brother’s bail bond, it’s really the beginning
of an
elaborate con game. But the game is barely underway when she is
brutally murdered in front of Jackson’s office. And for
reasons
that make no sense, the police are calling him the prime suspect. That
is, unless he gives them the violin “as evidence.”
With his criminal past, Jackson can’t afford to be a prime
suspect for jaywalking. But neither is he prepared to give in to
extortion. Soon he is on the road and on the run, trying to solve Amy
Cox’s murder, pursued by one real and one crooked cop, a band
of
urban Gypsies who claim to have first rights to the violin, and an
unknown killer who also wants Jackson dead. Nobody is who he claims to
be, nothing is what it seems, and the violin, which is reputed to carry
a 400-year-old curse, begins to take on a life of its own. While
Jackson tries to sort it all out, the killing continues, and suddenly
his old life back in Detroit doesn’t look so dangerous at all.
Review:
Fiddle Game
is Robert A. Thompson's first mystery that introduces Herman Jackson, a
bail bondsman living in St. Paul, and it is a winner. Jackson is
someone who is smart enough to stay just above the law but not quite
smart enough that the police keep an eye on him.
Jackson generally leads a quiet life. That is, until one day when Amy
Cox came in for an $18,000 bond for her brother Jimmy. She has no cash,
but she's willing to put up something worth far more, a 400-year-old
Amati violin with a certificate of authenticity. Together, Amy and
Jackson visit a pawn shop when they receive the necessary cash. After
the transaction is complete, Amy leaves Jackson's office and is killed
by a hit-and-run driver. To Jackson's surprise, the police accuse him
of murdering Amy, and want him to turn over the violin as part of their
investigation.
And so begins a thrilling,
cross-country adventure as Jackson uses numerous fake IDs to keep one
step ahead of the people following him, at least one of which wants him
dead. He takes off for Seattle, and then rents a car to Arizona where
he meets his incarcerated uncle who advises him to have piece of pecan
pie at local cafe. Be sure to ask for Rosie. Rosie's pecan pie is
actually a selection of guns, and she accompanies Jackson to the Chicago suburb of Skokie which has a
large gypsy population. As a band of gypsies have claimed the Amati was
theirs to begin with, Jackson thinks he'll find the answers there to
all his questions, and who killed Amy Cox.
Fiddle
Game is a face-paced caper that keeps the reader guessing
as to what happens next. The characters are original and well drawn;
each has a bit of a rough side and no one is quite who they seem on the
surface. Though the plot moves along at breakneck speed, the writing is
surprisingly well balanced, especially for a first novel.
If Thompson can continue this level
of excellence in subsequent books, this will definitely be a series to
look forward to. In the meantime, enjoy Fiddle Game; it's a
real treat.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Fiddle Game and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Fiddle Game
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), January 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-455-4 (1590584554)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-455-2 (9781590584552)
Omnimystery keywords for Fiddle Game ...
Location(s) referenced: St. Paul, Minnesota, Seattle, Arizona, Chicago, Illinois.