The Burning of Rachel Hayes [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Doug Allyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2005

An Edgar Award-winning Author

After a stint in jail which cost him his wife and career, Dr. David Westbrook takes his battered Jeep, a one-eyed cat, and his troubled past to northern Michigan to start over. He plans to open a small country clinic where he can heal injured animals - and maybe himself. But he's chosen the wrong county. When the remains of a Michigan farmwoman dead since 1871 are recovered from an old well, strange accidents start happening.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Fans of Edgar-winner Allyn's Dr. David Westbrook will be thrilled by this first novel to feature his short story hero. The troubled veterinarian has moved to a small town in northern Michigan to start a new life, but his past soon catches up with him. Despite his attempts to lie low, Westbrook rescues a young boy from a well and immediately finds himself in the spotlight, not to mention haunted by the bones he saw while saving the boy. Were the bones from a poacher who disappeared in the 1950s or from Rachel Hayes, a farm woman who vanished in 1871? Enter Megan Keyes, a hard-nosed reporter with her own baggage; Sheriff Wolinski, who can smell an ex-con a mile away; hard-living Uncle Bass, who despised his half-brother, Westbrook's father; Yvonne McCrae, a neighboring rancher who sends shivers up the country doc's spine; and a host of supporting characters, including animals, who complicate Westbrook's already precarious existence. Allyn deftly weaves greed, ambition, action, romance and tragedy in dueling mysteries set 133 years apart. Characters and plot are superior, but Allyn mesmerizes when describing Westbrook and a pack of abused greyhounds. How the vet earns their trust and devotion is poignant and unbelievably heart-wrenching, paralleling his own quest for redemption. Allyn deliver a first-class crime tale; readers will surely hope to see much more of Westbrook in his new, full-length incarnation. FYI:The Westbrook short stories have won the Ellery Queen Readers Award three times.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

On parole after two years in prison for assaulting a police officer, veterinarian Dr. David Westbrook moves to northern Michigan to make a fresh start. One day while renovating his new clinic, Westbrook answers a cry for help and rescues a young boy, in the process discovering the skeleton of a woman, Rachel Hayes, who died in the Great Fire of 1871. After the skeleton is recovered, mysterious fires begin, and a wave of accidents and deaths occur. Because of his past, Westbrook is the chief suspect in the suspicious fires and deaths. To clear himself, Westbrook and reporter Megan Keyes investigate. The prickly Westbrook is a complex character: a man with a past trying to make a new life for himself. The fast-paced story includes a frame of small-town life, a love interest, environmental issues, and touches of the supernatural. Westbrook, who has also appeared in several short stories, has the makings of a strong series hero. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 495 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (April 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786273313
• ISBN-13: 978-0786273317
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,106,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific tale, October 31, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burning of Rachel Hayes (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Veterinarian Dr. David Westbrook relocates to Algoma, Michigan after two years in prison for hitting a cop. David had been drinking away his sorrows over the death of his beloved child to Leukemia and ultimately his marriage when he lost it. Now he plans to start over in this remote northern community.

David hears a woman screaming for help;. He drives until he finds Brenda, whose eight year old son fell into a well. David convinces the much bigger and stronger Brenda to let him climb down while she anchors the tent nylon that he will use and eventually pull them up. He rescues Bobby, but saw a corpse in the well.

The official excavation at the well digs up the remains of a trapper and the fused skeletons of Rachel Hayes and her dog, who died in the Great Fire of 1871. Death and fire soon stalk David with the local sheriff suspecting him of every crime since the JFK assassination. David makes inquiries into Rachel's death as unexplained happenings seem to surround him including falling in love with an older woman.

Though David is a terrific center holding the mystery together, the women make this a . Besides the gender bender well rescue that shows how non-sexist the hero is, his relationships with a feisty reporter, the older Yvonne, and perhaps Rachel provide realism in a paranormal scenario. David ponders whether Rachel guides him so that history does not repeat itself with avarice destroying the land. Readers will enjoy this fabulous tale unless they are CEOs of the timber/development industries or employees of the misnamed EPA.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book., April 6, 2005

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burning of Rachel Hayes (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Not a typical ghost story, but one filled with strong, diverse and interesting characters, both human and animal. I found myself caught up in the story. Parts of it stayed with me long after finishing the book. There are animals harmed in this book, but it was relevant to the plot. I've already ordered another of Mr. Allyn's books, which is as good a recommendation as is.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Ghost Story? Oh, and give up your day job please . . ., June 10, 2005

By 

Michael S. Briggs "msb76" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burning of Rachel Hayes (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Dr. David Westbrook has just moved to a small town in Michigan. While Westbrook is beginning to remodel the barn that he will turn into an animal clinic, he hears a cry for help. Flinging the paint can away from him (accidently), Westbrook rushes about ten miles over to where he spots a woman digging frantically into the dirt. Her boy has fallen down a hole in the ground (Westbrook is not first sure if it is a sinkhole or a well). While rescuing the boy, Westbrook spots a skeleton. The authorities rush to the scene (Westbrook had called 911 prior to attempting the rescue, the boy was in freezing water and he figured he couldn't wait for the official rescue squad), and Westbrook makes note of the skeleton. The skeleton is brought up, and then strange occurrences begin.

This is the first book I've read by Allyn (who also writes under the name Kenneth Shepherd), though I've read many of his short stories and consider him to be one of the best short stories writers around. Unfortunately, Allyn's seven novels are hard to find, and I've previously only found the second novel in the Michelle Mitchell series (and that's a character I don't recall ever meeting in short story form; I've been trying to find the first book in that series before I begin it). Allyn is a very good writer, and one who I would tell to give up his day job (he is a member of a music group, which I, probably incorrectly, assume is his "day job" (the author information says a rock band, Devil's Triangle Rock Group - Co-Leader, singer/guitarist; though I thought that he also did Renaissance music)). It is hard to tell by just reading one of his novels, but it would appear that Allyn is very good in any length, and the music might be holding him back (though I know almost nothing about him, except for the music, the years in the USAF, the work as a book reviewer).

This is the first novel in the Dr. David Westbrook series, though there was a collection of stories titled "All Creatures Dark and Dangerous" released in 1999. While I really enjoy Allyn's short stories, the Westbrook character, and his stories, were not the ones that I particularly liked. I picked up the book because I really like Allyn's work (and they seem to go out of print quickly), but left the book lying around for a while, as I couldn't get myself to read a Westbrook novel. I'm very glad that I finally read this book, as it is very well crafted, the characters are fully developed, the plot is solid (it would probably be better to read the book without too much advance information), and for the most part, this is a very well-written book. The genre issue, though, might be a problem. Is this a mystery? A slice of life novel? A ghost story? This is a very good combination of many genre's (including more than just the three mentioned), but might not satisfy someone looking for one particular type of book (as opposed to a combo book). In the end, I would give this book 4.44 stars.

- Michael S. Briggs -