Book description
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 brothers bail bond, its really the beginning of an elaborate con
game. But the game is barely underway when she is brutally murdered in
front of Jacksons 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 cant 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
Coxs 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 doesnt look so dangerous at all. This uneven
debut introduces bail bondsman Herman Jackson, who sees nothing unusual
when a woman calling herself Amy Cox comes to his office to arrange bail
for her brother. She offers her violin as collateral, claiming it's an
Amati worth ,000 or more. Shortly after handing over the instrument to
Jackson and getting a replacement from a nearby pawn shop, Amy is killed
and the loaner stolen. Thus begins a wild, extravagant bait-and-switch.
To get to the bottom of Amy's death and figure out who's conning him,
Jackson must go back 60 years to learn the full story of the violin. The
most charming character is a brassy waitress, Rosie, who plays Watson to
Jackson's Holmes. Jackson himself is not especially well-developed, and
the mystery would be stronger with fewer plot twists. Still, Jackson's
location on the edge of the justice system is a good setup for a sequel,
and with a bit of seasoning, Thompson may have a successful series on
his hands. Richard Thompson is a former civil engineer and
construction manager who traded his hard hat for a laptop and now writes
full time. His first novel, Fiddle Game, was short-listed for a Debut
Dagger award, and Frag Box was a finalist for the 2010 Minnesota Book
Award. He is also the author of a standalone historical mystery, Big
Wheat. He lives in Minnesota with his wife of 45 years and two neurotic
cats.
