Detective Fiction, Canadian Peoples & Cultures - Fiction & Literature, Cozy Mysteries & Amateur Sleuths
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Overview
Eric Wright, author of the highly acclaimed Charlie Salter novels, introduced readers to Mel Pickett in Buried in Stone when Pickett helped the police solve a bake-shop murder. In his newest adventure, Mel Pickett, a retired police officer from Toronto, once again becomes involved in police work when a body is discovered in the cabin that he owns.
The day shift at the Ontario Provincial Police Station had just come on duty when they received a disturbing phone call--a homicide in a log cabin on Larch River. Sergeant Wilkie fears it's Mel Pickett who has been killed and is almost relieved when he sees that the victim is Norbert Thompson, a local "hired man" who had been renting Pickett's cabin. Just as Wilkie starts looking for a motive, Pickett arrives in town and learns of the murder. His immediate though is, was he the intended victim?
Sergeant Wilkie and ex-Sergeant Pickett pursue their investigations separately, but each keeps a watchful eye on the other. Wilkie's lead brings him to rural Ontario, where Thompson used to work as a "hired man" on his brother's farm. Pickett looks for the killer among all the violent men who have threatened to get him as they were led off to jail. Will they be able to catch the killer before he or she strikes again?
Synopsis
Eric Wright, author of the highly acclaimed Charlie Salter novels, introduced readers to Mel Pickett in Buried in Stone when Pickett helped the police solve a bake-shop murder. In his newest adventure, Mel Pickett, a retired police officer from Toronto, once again becomes involved in police work when a body is discovered in the cabin that he owns. The day shift at the Ontario Provincial Police Station had just come on duty when they received a disturbing phone call--a homicide in a log cabin on Larch River. Sergeant Wilkie fears it's Mel Pickett who has been killed and is almost relieved when he sees that the victim is Norbert Thompson, a local "hired man" who had been renting Pickett's cabin. Just as Wilkie starts looking for a motive, Pickett arrives in town and learns of the murder. His immediate though is, was he the intended victim? Sergeant Wilkie and ex-Sergeant Pickett pursue their investigations separately, but each keeps a watchful eye on the other. Wilkie's lead brings him to rural Ontario, where Thompson used to work as a "hired man" on his brother's farm. Pickett looks for the killer among all the violent men who have threatened to get him as they were led off to jail. Will they be able to catch the killer before he or she strikes again?Editorials
New York Times Book Review
...taut storytelling...Library Journal
Wright reintroduces series protagonist Mel Pickett (Buried in Stone), a sixtyish retired Toronto police officer. Pickett rents out his beloved cabin on the river when he gets married, but someone murders his renter. Pickett investigates, suspecting that he himself was the intended victim. A likely purchase for fans of the series. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.From The Critics
Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Wilkie is stunned when a woman reports a murder at a cabin on Larch River. Wilkie believes his father's old law enforcement peer, retired cop Mel Pickett, is the victim as this is his home. However, when Wilkie arrives at the scene, he finds a different corpse. The witness, Elisa Pullock, explains that the deceased is Norbert Thompson, renting the cabin from the recently married Mel. Elisa is borrowing a nearby trailer from Mel to work on a historical book about the area.Upon hearing the news of the homicide of his border, the sixty-six years old Mel, as well as his wife Charlotte, is stunned. While the cops wonder if this might be part of the recent break-ins that turned ugly, Mel wonders if he was the target. Also under consideration by the law remains the fact that that Norbert left his brother's home to live at this cabin after a major spat with his sibling. Not wanting to wait, Mel goes into his police mode seeking the identity of a killer. Death Of A Hired Man is a fabulous police procedural with private investigative elements. The story line is well crafted because author Eric Wright makes his cast seem genuine without slowing down the tale. Fans of a good crime novel starring newly married senior citizens struggling with difficult decisions such as wills and multiple homes will find this book as a sure thing.Book Details
Published
March 9, 2001
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Pages
224
ISBN
9781429982559