Review: Suspicion of Madness

Did Billy Fadden really kill Sandra McCoy? It certainly looks like it; he phoned in a confession right before he tried unsuccessfully to take his own life. He was under suspicion before that, which is why Cuban- American attorney Anthony Quintana was already on his way from Miami to Lindeman Key to talk to Billy. Anthony, who had gotten Billy off on an arson charge four years ago, thinks he's going to have an easy day or so of work, followed by a free vacation at the isolated and luxurious resort owned by Billy's mother and stepfather on Lindeman Key. In anticipation of this, he brings along his fiancée, fellow attorney Gail Connor. Billy's alleged confession and attempted suicide, of course, change all their plans. Anthony and Gail get sucked into the complex web of personal relationships, old grudges, greed, and general weirdness that always seem to wind themselves like kudzu around any isolated area.

This is a series book, which always raises the question of whether it 's necessary to have read the earlier books to figure out what's going on. Then answer, in this case, is no. While there's obviously backstory, the book still makes sense as a standalone.

Gail and Anthony's passionate and sometimes prickly relationship is a much an integral part of the book as the mystery. I'll admit, this is not my usual cup of tea; I wasn't one of those people who watched "The X- Files" hoping that Mulder and Scully would finally get down to doing the Wild Thing. All that said, author Barbara Parker does a good job of navigating the rocks and shoals that can sink a "romantic mystery". There's just enough sexuality to convey the passionate nature of the relationship, without getting into too much detail and going over the line into soft porn. (Not that there's anything inherently wrong with soft porn, mind you.) Parker does a good job of portraying the tensions in adult relationships, even between two people who are deeply in love.

Is there a storm? Of course there's a storm. You can't set a mystery in South Florida without a storm to ramp up the suspense as the protagonists draw closer to the real killer. In fact, there area lot of stock settings and characters you've seen before in other mysteries. The corrupt small-town lawyer. The slow-witted handyman. The faded and eccentric movie star living in seclusion. Even Anthony, suave and romantic Latin lover, is a bit of a dependable stock character. But Parker moves these familiar characters around the story in interesting enough ways. It's a pleasant enough read, good for a day on the beach-up until the ending.

Oy, the ending. Look, I like a surprise or twist ending as much as the next mystery fan. And worry not, I won't spoil it for you just in case you' re willing to take the chance that the first 350 pages won't be ruined by the last 20.

But let's just say that this twist has been done. It's really been done, and more skillfully and believably than this. I can pretty much guarantee you've either seen it or at least heard of it before. Parker's a good writer, but it would take an almost supernaturally gifted writer to pull this one off, even as an homage to the classics. A twist ending should make you go "whoa!" not "oh, please!" I didn't actually toss the book across the room at this point, but I came close.

On the whole, "Suspicion of Madness" is a decent, competent thriller (three stars), marred by a bogus ending (minus one). It's a pity, because I really wanted to like it a lot, and almost did. But, there you go. Total of two stars.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dusty Rhoades - RAM

Book Review: Suspicion of Madness