Back on Murder is a fantastic read. Author J. Mark Bertrand nails
the detective's voice in this first-person novel. His descriptions
are fresh, vivid, unique.
First person works for me as a mystery reader-whatever the sleuth
or detective learns, I learn as well. Sometimes I can even piece a
few clues together before he or she does, although not so much in
this case.
But the novel is written in the present tense, a major turn-off for
me. This is a fast-paced story, and once I was into it, my brain
converted the action descriptions to past tense (that's what it
thinks is normal after 40+ years of reading). Then it would trip on
a present-tense verb and throw me off the story's rollercoaster.
Not fun.
In the midst of assimilating the whole present-tense-fast-action
thing, on page one I found a description of the murder victim:
unique and well-written, but referring to his "wife-beater". While
I usually feel the political-correctness enforcers go overboard,
this one should maybe have been stopped.
I was surprised a) that it was there, and b) that all readers would
be expected to know the words mean a sleeveless, scooped-neck
undershirt. If you didn't know, I doubt you'd figure it out from
context. You'd just be thinking about the dead guy having beaten
his wife. This dead guy may not even have had a wife, so that's a
bad distraction from what he did have: enemies.
It's hard for crime novels to have happy endings when they're about
death. March's case resolves in a mostly satisfactory manner from
his perspective. For readers, it a good ending. Our questions have
been answered, some justice has been dealt, and there's an
open-ended issue that promises us future plots. Professionally,
things are looking up for March. On a personal level, he and
Charlotte are making progress.
March is a non-Christian protagonist for both Christian and general
market police procedural lovers. Readers wanting a conversion scene
for March need to look elsewhere. It wouldn't be a realistic step
for him at this point, but perhaps in a future novel. I found his
non-faith gave him the opportunity to let Christians see how others
may perceive us. He isn't intentionally nasty, but he doesn't get
it. We all know people like that, and we need to understand them
and to help them understand us.
J. Mark Bertrand is the co-author (with Deeanne Gist) of the
romantic suspense, Beguiled. Back on Murder is so tightly-written
that I can't believe it's his first solo novel.
I like Roland March, and I'm glad he's back on murder.
Present-tense narrative or no, I'll be waiting to read the next in
the series: Pattern of Wounds.
[Review source: Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing
Group and Graf-Martin Communications Inc. Available now at your
favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker
Publishing Group.]