Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Known Dead
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Donald Harstad
Class/Genre: Mystery Police Procedural
Series: Carl Houseman # 2
Doubleday, Jul 1999, $23.95, 336 pp.
The desolate but peaceful stretch of land of Nation County, Iowa remains home to Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman. However, as serene and empty as the stark landscape seems, Carl knows that trouble can bubble up at any time.
Two of his assistants happen to be watching over a marijuana patch to determine who is cultivating the crop. However, the seemingly easy stake-out turns ugly. One of the deputies radios for help, claiming his partner is hurt and automatic weapon firing is coming from every direction. By the time Carl arrives on the scene, a deputy and the petty crook growing the weed are dead. Law enforcement officials at all levels begin to investigate, struggling to uncover a motive. None of them is yet privy to the monster that now stalks our nation's heartland.
KNOWN DEAD is a brilliantly structured police procedural that provides an insider's look into a case from birth to grave. Readers observe the investigators' bursts of excitement when progress occurs and feel the aggravaton and tedium of the boring grunt work. Although this is necessary to find the smallest clue, it often times leads to nothing more than a frustrating dead end. It is these insights into the emotions of the characters that demonstrate Donald Harstad's ability to scribe his experiences in an exciting plot that is filled with unexpected twists and turns. With novels like this one, Mr. Harstad will quickly attain recognition by sub-genre fans as one of its' best authors.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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