High Stakes

Title:  High Stakes Author:  Dick Francis Genre:  Mystery, Crime Length: 223 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  Love Scenes Rating:  4 out of 5

Set mostly in and around London, we are introduced to the conflict immediately between Steven Scott and Jody Leeds.  Steven is an inventor turned race horse owner and Jody is his trainer.  The opening lines of the book are the discussion, or should I say argument, that the two men are having.

The lines are clearly drawn.  Steven is a young and wealthy newcomer to the racetrack.  He has basically no knowledge about buying, training, and racing the horses he owns.  Jody is an overly ambitious trainer that is taking advantage of Steven's good nature and inexperience.

After Steven fires Jody, he places his horses with three other trainers as quickly as possible.  He has staked his reputation on Energise, a young black hurdler.  When he goes to visit the horse for the first time after the argument, he is certain there is something wrong...he doesn't believe it's the same horse...his horse.

We find Steven making friends who are willing to help him along the way as he tries to uncover this mystery.  He also picks up a love interest early on in the book who is from the States.

Reading this book was like stepping back in time as it was first published in 1975.  I enjoyed the nostalgia of the phone ringing and people stopping by unannounced to check on each other.  So many mysteries today have one individual trying to figure it all out with maybe a love interest thrown in who is helping.  I enjoyed the comradery of the friends that Steven made and that he was never alone on his path to solving his problem.  The book was fast paced and a very easy read. 

Last Seen: A Dr. Pepper Hunt Mystery

Title:  Last Seen Author:  J.L. Doucette Genre:  Mystery, Thriller Length: 330 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  Some Graphic Crime Scenes  Rating:  3 out of 5

Set in rural Sweetwater County, Wyoming, we are introduced to Dr. Pepper Hunt, a psychiatrist whose patient (Kimi) has recently gone missing.  Dr. Hunt is a transplant to the area and feels that she truly belongs.  She's also battling her own personal trauma, which she managed to leave behind with the migration from the city to rural setting. 

The Sheriff visits Dr. Hunt's office, asking questions and letting Dr. Hunt know that Kimi is missing.  Kimi has been disassociating, letting Dr. Hunt know that she's awoken in places that she didn't even know she was at.  The initial thought is this could be one of her episodes, but the longer she's gone, the more people believe she's missing.  Another theory is that it could be the serial rapist as she was covering that story for the local paper.

The Sheriff assigns the case to Detective Antelope, who just happens to be Kimi's cousin.  The Sheriff is focusing on Kimi's husband Kevin while the Detective is focusing on Kimi's brother Diego.  Given the number of sex offenders in town, a high percentage for a population of this size, it is decided that they need to try to eliminate suspects.  Another thought is that Cedric Yee, her peer at the paper who idolizes her, could be a suspect.

Who did it?  I was kept guessing until almost the end.

As far as the mystery part of the book, I felt that it held my interested as I didn't figure out "who did it" immediately.  For the thriller part, there wasn't a sense of urgency.  Kimi's husband is more upset that he's alone on Christmas than the fact that his wife is missing.  Dr. Hunt doesn't seem to realize that Kimi might actually be in danger until halfway through the book. 

The book is positioned as the first in a series of Dr. Pepper Hunt mysteries.  If that wasn't on the cover, I would have assumed the series would be positioned as Detective Antelope.  One last item, the book needed a bit more editing.  At points it was confusing as there wasn't a clear delineation of POV, specifically at the end of the book.

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Title:  The Innocent Man Author:  John Grisham Genre:  Mystery, Crime, Nonfiction Length: 435 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  None Rating:  3 out of 5

The Innocent Man is a non-fiction story of two men who were wrongly convicted of rape and murder in Oklahoma.

Ron Williamson was the youngest child and only son of his loving Christian family in Ada, Oklahoma.  He grew up playing street ball and became a star on his high school baseball team.  He played for several minor professional league teams hoping to make it to the majors, ultimately the Yankees.  A few injuries and health problems crumbled those dreams.  By his mid-20s Ron began showing signs of mental illness which was compounded by his heavy drinking and drug usage.

In 1982 Debbie Carter was brutally raped and murdered in her apartment in Ada.  The local police missed several items when conducting the investigation, including the individual who had been harassing Debbie the night of her murder.

While there was no credible physical evidence against Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, they were arrested and charged with the rape and murder of Debbie Carter.  The case was built on jailhouse snitches, who had be coached by Bill Peterson, the prosecutor.  Dennis was sentenced to life in prison and Ron was sentenced to the death penalty.

Grisham details Ron's years on death row.  His mother and sisters never gave up on his innocence.  His lawyers filed appeal after appeal.  By the time of the final case, Ron was severely mentally ill as well as depressed by his wrongful conviction.  To add to this, the guards liked to torment the inmates, especially Ron.

Years after being in prison, DNA evidence showed that the two men were innocent.  Ron and Dennis were released from prison, but those who convicted them refused to apologize.  In fact the prosecution continued to believe that the two men were still suspects and might be retired if more evidence presented itself.

Reading this book caused me to go through a series of emotions.  It was frustrating to see some of the major misses of the police department.  I was angry that the prosecution continued to focus on two innocent men while the actual killer was completely missed.  I was sad for what Ron, Dennis and others had experienced.

While I enjoyed this book, it was long in places as Grisham went into a lot of detail about Ron's early life, baseball, injuries, horrible years on death row, etc.  While some of these items were needed to help tell the story, it caused me to skip pages here and there.