2017; 481 pages. New Author? : Yes. Book 24 (out of 26) in the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series. Genres : Police
Procedural; Serial Killers; Crime Thriller.
Overall Rating : 5½*/10.
It’s a perfect day to be out hiking in upstate
New York. Rina Decker is thoroughly
enjoying it, even if there’s no one along to chitchat with, and apparently the
newly-opened Bogat Trail was not well-known to other local hikers yet.
It’s autumn, the best time of
year to take some nature photos, and Rina’s brought her camera. Everything is lush and green, the trees are
colorful, and there’s one particularly stately oak tree off-trail in the
distance, just begging to be photographed.
Wandering off the trail is a little risky: you could get lost, but Rina’s done it
before, and she's carrying a compass for just such a venture. So it’s off across the woodland, enjoying
Mother Nature, and at one point accidentally stepping on a twig sticking out of
the ground and snapping it off. Well now,
isn’t that cute, the twig looks like skeletal hand trying to free itself.
Uh-oh. Upon closer observation, that twig is a skeletal hand. Don’t touch anything, Rina, you don’t want to
disturb the crime scene. And call your
husband immediately, since he's a member of the local police department.
What’s To Like...
Bone Box was
my introduction to a long-running police procedural series by Faye Kellerman
featuring the husband/wife team of (police
detective) Peter Decker and his (private
investigator) wife Rina. This
is the book 24 in the 26-book series, so I’ve missed most of the backstory,
although I gather they used to live in Los Angeles, and at some point moved to upstate New York to escape the hustle and bustle of
city life.
Despite Rina literally stumbling across the first body, most of the focus is on Peter and his intern
detective partner, Tyler McAdams as they try to identify the remains that are
years-old, and discover who did the dirty deed(s).
This is a police procedural, my favorite crime-mystery
sub-genre, and so not surprisingly Peter, Tyler, and the reader spend a large amount
of time interviewing any and all those who may have known the victims.
I liked the writing style: it’s
witty and fast-moving, full of interesting and well-developed characters. One of those happens to be transgender, with
a spouse who’s also transgender, both of whom are beginning the process of
getting a sex-change. Sound
improbable? Well maybe, but I remember a
1970s article in our local newspaper, The
New Times, which chronicled just such a circumstance.
There are a bunch of recurring characters in the storyline: old friends, kids and step-kids, former police coworkers, et al. I struggled to keep track of them, yet that didn’t negatively impact my grasping of the storyline.
I liked the literary nod to
Stephen King, and the musical nod to Jane Monheit (who?). I was astounded to learn that Akron, Ohio is
reputed to be “The Methamphetamine Capital of
the Country”, and if there was a tie-in to the titular “Bone Box”, I
missed it. There’s a small amount of cussing, not
a lot, and that impressed me. I like it
when an author can keep you turning the pages without having to resort to excessive
use of profanity.
Kewlest New Word ...
Hinky (adj.) : (of
a person) dishonest or suspect.
Others: Orthogonal (adj.).
Ratings…
Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 1,111
ratings.
Goodreads: 3.98*/5,
based on 6,964 ratings and 636 reviews.
Things that Sound Dirty but Aren’t…
“I
know you’re not the problem. But, at
present, you’re the only scapegoat I have.
Put some clothes on and let’s get out of here.” (loc. 1161)
Kindle Details…
Bone Box sells for $4.99 at Amazon, The other 25
books in this series cost anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99. Faye Kellerman has also written some standalone novels, all in the crime-mystery genre, and which range in price from $2.99 to $11.49.
Excerpts...
“I’m just trying to get a feel for Delilah. Were the two of you close?”
Natalie took a tissue and blew her
nose. “She could be secretive.”
“About what?” McAdams said.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have said she
was secretive.”
Decker smiled. “What do you
think she was secretive about?”
“Anything she didn’t want to talk about,
which upon reflection, was probably a long list.” (loc. 1567)
“Thanks for coming down.”
“Like I had a choice? Why am I here?”
“I’m asking for your help.”
“What help?
I can’t help you.”
“You don’t even know what I’m asking for.”
“It can’t be good. You don’t drag a person down to the police
station just to get help. So either
arrest me for something or I’m going home.”
“You want me to arrest you?”
“Well, no.
I don’t want you to arrest me.
I didn’t do anything arrestable.
I don’t even know if that’s a word.” (loc. 5637)
“I’m old. I don’t have time to be patient.” (loc. 4812 )
Sadly, there’s a lot to
quibble about in Bone Box. We’ll try not to get long-winded about these.
There are way too many WTF’s. Some examples: Decker leaves Rina alone at their house, despite knowing there's a psychopath stalking her. Predictable things ensue, but the day is saved by a well-armed good guy showing up at just the right and most improbable moment. At another point, a key witness who just happens to be hiding out in Decker’s former stomping ground of Los Angeles is quickly located, despite her having changed her name and assumed a new identity. Such coincidences might be okay in an action-thriller, but not in a police procedural.
The bad guys seem incredibly chatty during interviews, and easily talked out of wanting a lawyer to be present during the questioning. They're easily persuaded to rat out each other, even when Decker lacks enough evidence to arrest them for something.
The
storyline meanders too much. The
original victim is a transgender male, and I thought the plotline might
extensively explore this angle. But
he/she quickly fades into the background as other bodies and near-misses turn
up, all female, all young, all straight, and all assumed to be of more interest
to the readers than someone looking to get a sex-change.
The biggest problem is the
ending. There isn’t any. Decker finally figures out who did what to
who, and why, but both he and the perps know that he lacks enough proof to convict the them. This is normally addressed with a few more chapters where the baddies succumb to some clever ploys the protagonists, but here, the story
just ends with everything still unresolved. Talk
about a major letdown.
5½ Stars. In reading the Amazon reviews, I’m not the only one to find the ending to be disappointing. So maybe Bone Box is just one of the weaker books in this series. Maybe Faye Kellerman was burnt out when she wrote it. Maybe that’s why it was discounted at Amazon. Maybe the earlier books are much better. We’ll see. I not ready to give up on such an acclaimed author after just one book.
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