Deputy Dave Jenkins investigates the murder of local high school principal, Jerry Egge, but this is a multi-faceted novel that deals with spiritualism, romance, friendship, and children who fall through the cracks.
"Murder isn't usually this funny." Amazon reviewer
When Deputy Sheriff Dave Jenkins arrives at Principal Jerry Egge's murder scene, he has a spiritual experience. Egg's life flashes before his eyes, so to speak. Anybody knows the murder victim is supposed to have this experience, not the investigator. Jenkins doesn't believe it. He can't afford to; if he tells anyone, he'll lose his job. But he just happens to know somebody who believes in ghosts: MIngo Jones, the night deputy, a Mescalero Apache who moves to Minnesota because of all those lakes. Mingo has been an agnostic all his life when it comes to religion, but he had to pick a minor when he attended Johns Hopkins on a LaCrosse scholarship, and now he's heavily into Native American religion, except for the peyote, of course. Throughout the novel Jenkins is harassed by ambiguous hints about who killed Egge, seemingly coming from the corpse himself. Jenkins considers telling the priest when the priest is also attacked. Teenagers are important characters in the novel. Mo Pleasiac, Jenkins's next door neighbor is Jenkins's best buddy, Jenkins serving as a father figure. But Moe is a genius and offers many a clue to solve the case. Olive Randall, a trailer park beauty is a suspect. She admits scrawling a red smear on the water tower, telling Egge to do something to himself anatomically impossible. Jenkins is also in an unintentional contest with his boss, Harry Kline, to see who will be the next sheriff. Problem is his friend and the shortstop on his softball team, Annie Kline, is Harry's daughter. We move from suspect to suspect. Harry Kline's son once owned the baseball bat that the murderer used to crush Egge's skull. The school superintendent was having an affair with Egge's wife. We don't find out who done it until Mingo literally stumbles across the guy. Hint, HELTER SKELTER was one of my source books.
Excerpt
Dave looked over at the body, half expecting Egge to sit up and ask what the hell had hit him, then walked over and took another look at him, trying to remember what he used to look like. Nothing came to mind, except a rather high forehead. He could imagine Egge slathering mynoxidol on his bald pate like a kid spreads jelly on peanut butter. Forty bucks a month. The smell wasn't quite as bad.
Professional Reviews Dave King, Writer's Digest columnist
"With its complex interplay of bizarre yet believable characters, Soldier's Gap seems to fall somewhere between 'Northern Exposure' and 'Twin Peaks'.
Reality and Mysticism Uniquely Blended -Amazon Review
Soldier's Gap is an amazingly intricate tale that combines reality and mysticism in a unique blend that draws the reader in and then pushes your imagination to accept them both.
An Onion Worth Peeling - Amazon Review
"The book sets up its own unique world, and like any travels into an exotic location, it takes a while to get your bearings. A lot of the characters are quirky - in fact, almost everyone in this book is quirky - variety - from the teenage sexpots to the mystical Native American deputy. It took me a while to get into the rhymth of the book and accept it on its own terms, but that's also the case of traveling to many foreign countries where I eventually had the time of my life."
Hearts of Gold
Synopsis
by
Frank P. Whyte
Portland, Oregon is known as the City of Roses. Of course that’s an odd name for a city whose mere mention conjures images of driving winds and torrential ra
'Better Without You'is a compelling narrative that explores the complexities of an affair, hidden secrets, and abuse. It also highlights a daughter's heartfelt journey as she cares for her mother who is battling dementia.
