It'sspring 1962 and a Sergeant with the Memphis Police Department is found dead only hours before his scheduled testimony before a grand jury.
Was it suicide or was it murder? What was he going to testify about?
A handwritten note left by the s\Sergeant and addressed to the District Attorney disappears. What was in the note? Was it a suicide note with information regarding his pending testimory or something else?
A woman claiming to have information related to his planned testimony comes forward and seeks protection.
Carson is hired to look into the matter and provide protection for the mysterious woman, but protection from whom?
The situaton gets out of hand quickly and Carson finds himself in trouble with most everybody involved. A dark cloud hangs over the truth as he tries to determine the 'good-guys from the 'bad-guys' from the 'bad good-guys'.
This old fashion crime story takes Carson Reno and his crew on a complicated adventure where it seems that no one is looking for a solution.
Excerpt
It started with a woman – it always starts with a woman.
~
Her makeup was running, her lipstick didn’t look right, eye shadow wasn’t working its magic and the dress she was trying to wear didn’t fit. But, it really didn’t matter.
Regardless of how she looked, that no-good husband of hers was going to take her out tonight or he’d find his belongings scattered across the front yard tomorrow morning. She’d had enough of his actions, attitude and neglect. All the bastard ever did was work, and now it was time for him to pay some attention to her.
Her first husband hadn’t been any better, and now that she thought about it – he’d probably been much worse. But she’d made him pay for his transgressions, and then used his ashes for fish food. The poor bastard never saw it coming. And if things didn’t improve between her and Martin, he’d find himself in a similar situation. She had already started with plans to make that happen.
~
Today was their tenth wedding anniversary and he’d not so much as mentioned it. It was just another day for a man who worshiped his work and friends more than his wife.
He made good money, which was most unusual for a police Sergeant – but she never asked questions. The mortgage got paid, they each had a car to drive and there was usually a few extra dollars in their small bank account. However, she always had the suspicion that there was more…more money somewhere. Regardless, she never saw more than what it took to buy groceries and maintain the house. Other than her whiskey, cigarettes and an occasional trip to the beauty parlor, not one damn dime was ever provided to her to use for HERSELF.
There were other women – she knew it, just couldn’t prove it. Lipstick stains on his shirt collar, perfume aroma on his suit jacket, late nights that were excused by work, and of course he always had a good reason for everything – police work. She knew better. This was going to stop, and tonight was the night that was going to happen. It was time for Mary Ann Greene to stand her ground, stand up for herself and demand something from this stinking marriage - something that had been a long time in coming.
His job as Sergeant with the Memphis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct had about as much glamor as his dirty underwear, which she washed regularly without ever getting so much as a ‘thank you’. He was a cop because his father had been a cop and because his father’s father had been a cop. He wasn’t a cop because he wanted to catch bad guys or ‘Protect and Serve’. He was a cop simply because that’s what he was supposed to be, there was no other reason.
But she knew he did enjoy his work, at least the parts of it she got to see. There were always tickets for ballgames, boxing matches or concerts (provided by some unknown citizen), and she would occasionally get to ‘tag along’ if it was convenient or another cop was bringing his wife. She got to ‘tag along’ provided she didn’t talk too much, drink too much or interfere with their silly police games – which usually involved pushing some innocent civilian around.
As reward for her obedience she might get a lousy $10.00 to buy more laundry detergent – or perhaps an extra $5.00 to get her nails done. But she never saw any real money…any real money to spend on herself.
~
She leaned back in her chair, retrieved a burning cigarette from an ashtray and glared at the aging face staring back at her from the dresser mirror. These past few years had been hard, and despite being only thirty-five, what she saw in the mirror reminded her of her mother – dead at fifty and looking like she was eighty. That wasn’t going to happen to her; she needed to find a way out of this mess – a way to be something more than the wife of a cop. A cop who would never be anything more than a cop - a nobody.
Drinking the last swallow of whiskey, she looked down at the glass and the remains of her lipstick smeared on the rim.
“Damn,” she said, before throwing the glass against the wall and watching it break into hundreds of pieces. “Damn Martin Greene, damn those bastards he works for and damn you world for taking away the best years of my life!”
She stood, clutched the robe covering her ill-fitting dress and took a step toward the door. It was time to confront Martin, tell him her feelings and get these problems out in the open. Time for him to live up to all the promises he’d made, but forgotten to deliver. It was time for things to change.
Then she heard the sound – a loud sound. It echoed through her bedroom and she froze for a moment as a cold chill ran up her spine. It was a sound she’d heard before, but never so close and never in her house. It was a gunshot!
Professional Reviews
The best mysteries take place in the 60s!
“Life is Cheap-make sure you buy enough.” Carson Reno
Lack of Candor is the 18th story in the Carson Reno series written by Gerald W. Darnell. The main character, Carson Reno, is a private detective with an office located in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Carson is a tough, hard drinking and womanizing private detective, but he also shows a sense of humor in difficult situations Carson Reno finds himself protecting a young lady who has information about the death of a Sergeant with the Memphis Police Department. The Sergeant was found dead hours before he was going to give his testimony before a grand jury. Using his connections, he is able to decipher the clues to find the truth behind the events leading up to the death of this Sergeant. The reader will enjoy not only the mystery behind this death but also the pictures that are found on several pages of the book. The author does a tremendous job using visuals that depict the lifestyles of the 60s and readers will be able to “witness” the events that take place in the story as if they were truly present. Was the death of this Sergeant a murder or a suicide?
Carson Reno never fails to please
Whenever I want a good PI mystery read, I grab a Carson Reno novel. They're always filled with humorous dialogue, plenty of plot twists, great characters, and fast-paced action. Lack of Candor, set in the 1960s, was no exception. This book was satisfying to the last page! Enjoy!
An Exciting Carson Story
Yes, I love reading Darnell's work. I also love, and I mean love, Carson Reno, and was very excited to read this one. First, what I like about any of Darnell's Carson Reno's books is the way that writes it so anyone can pick up any volume of his multitude of books and read it. But, once you read it, you end up wanting more. Lack of Candor was no different. Reno is on a new and interesting case, and nothing is as it seems. I like how Carson tells his story and what happens, especially his thoughts about himself and the others around him. It makes for great storytelling. The story was thrilling, and though plot driven, the characters, were what makes for the remarkably and exciting story. I like that he introduces a cast of characters, so much that I've taken that idea from him with my own work. An edge-of-your-seat, savor-every-word, page-turner!
If you like a good mystery, "Lack of Candor" is your book. Another "Carson Reno" story with a methodical private investigator "who always gets his man/or woman." "Lack of Candor" centers around the possible suicide/murder of a sergeant with the Memphis Police Department. The wife says she has no information; the girlfriend (yes, there's a girlfriend) says she has all the information. From there the story develops. The cast of character's names is quite entertaining. One of my favorites, for example, is a criminal named 'Iaam Trouble.' The plot takes many twists and turns and has the reader guessing with every chapter. "Lack of Candor," from page one, becomes a page turner. I couldn't put it down...in fact, I read it in one setting. It's an easy read for a lazy afternoon. This is not my first Gerald W. Darnell novel and won't be my last. The "Carson Reno" series is a lot of good reading and fun. I highly recommend you check them all out, but "Lack of Candor" is also a great stand-alone. A definite thumbs up!
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