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A KEVIN R. TIPPLE BOOK REVIEW: Killer's Ink by M. S. Karl
When this Louisiana review section began, I told you that it would cover books written by Louisiana authors or set in Louisiana. I also explained that it would, of course, cover new books but that it would also cover older books. Such is the case have with a novel that is a strong enjoyable read that doesn't do all the little tricks advocated so much these days. Instead of short chapters, lots of dialogue, bodies dropping in the first paragraph, etc. this novel relies on one thing-----telling a good story.
Killer's Ink M. S. Karl Dodd, Mead & Company 1988 Hardback ISBN # 0-396-09279-9
Peter Brady once was a Pulitzer Price winning crime reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He wrote an investigative series that won the Pulitzer, cost his informant his life and almost cost Peter his own in the farm of alcohol. In an act of desperation, he resigned his job in New Orleans, bought the Troy Parish Weekly Express in the town of Troy and flees to Northern Louisiana. He hopes to escape his demons. Putting away the bottle permanently is almost impossible as many of us know daily. Putting away the nightmare of seeing his informant floating dead in a swamp outside of New Orleans isn't any easier. It doesn't help when citizens of the small town begin dying.
As publisher, editor and just about everything else, the pressure is on Peter Brady to keep the struggling paper alive long enough that he can start turning things around. That job gets harder fast when Frieda MacBride, the politically connected society columnist is found dead at the local church graveyard. Hated by nearly everyone, she knew far too much about far too many people to make the suspect list short. Her death creates a ripple effect that sends out shock waves that touch people in many different ways and has links deep into the past.
The result is a complex cozy style read full of death and nuance. Peter Brady is not a stereotype at any level though he comes from the clichéd idea of the alcoholic newspaperman. Instead, the author, writing under the pseudonym of M. S. Karl, frequently ironically comments on the cliché. It isn't the only cliché he dismantles but one of several while about commenting on the nature of the male/female relationship, small town politics, and religion.
While there are numerous deaths in the work, they are more cozy style in nature and are not graphic. This is an atmospheric read where the reader is introduced to the style and pace of the setting long before the first killing. As a result, characters are introduced and one gets a sense of the measured pace of the novel long before its reason for existence comes into play. The result is a novel that pulls readers deep into the work and a read that is very good and over way too soon.
Unfortunately, my local library is only carrying this novel, the first of the series. A quick internet search identified more and I will be making use of my library system's interlibrary loan procedures. If you, like me, you can't afford to buy the books check with your library. It's worth it.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007 |