Cast in Stone: A Leo Waterman Mystery (Leo Waterman Mysteries) [Hardcover]

G. M. Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996 | Series: Leo Waterman Mysteries

An old friend asks Leo to find the reason behind his son's death. So Waterman and his Irregulars, an assortment of Seattle street people, pick up the paper trail that leads them to a small town with a huge secret. From Seattle to Wisconsin, the puzzle twists and turns, tangling the present with a past so tragic that the final truth will leave readers gasping.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Confirming the bright promise of Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca?, Ford proves he's no one-book author with the second case for extremely likable, wisecracking Seattle PI Leo Waterman. A boating mentor from Waterman's youth, Heck Sundstrom, is critically injured in a traffic accident. What was he doing on a seedy downtown block after midnight? The accident follows the death of the Sundstrom's son and his new daughter-in-law, Allison, in a boat explosion. Waterman soon finds loose ends: Allison may not have been what she claimed. For help, Waterman calls on "the Boys," usually drunk old friends who know their way around Seattle's seamier precincts. Carl Craddock, a wheelchair-using surveillance expert with a foul mouth and caustic sense of humor, pitches in. Allison's trail of trouble leads the men across Washington State to Wisconsin and beyond. A helpless old lady, a small-town police chief and the minister of a Seattle megachurch were all involved with the enigmatic woman. But if Allison is alive and murdering, who went down with the Sundstrom boat? Ford keeps the menace growing, while his large cast of colorful characters supplies laughs in some of the best dialogue around.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA. Written like a classic 1930's hard-boiled detective novel, Cast in Stone starts with a bang and keeps going from there. After 23 years, Marge, the love of detective Leo Waterman's life, needs his help. Her husband, Heck, an ex-friend of Leo's, is dying in a Seattle hospital after a hit-and-run accident. It is with great reluctance that Leo even considers getting involved as Marge rejected him and married his best friend, thus ruining that friendship and his life. Marge also wants Leo to help her uncover the mysterious circumstances of the death of her son and his fiancee in a boating accident. Heck was convinced that the "accident" was no accident and had set out to do his own investigation. Calling in some markers owed from old friends, Leo unravels the case piece by piece. In the course of his investigation, he finds decades-old murders and "suicides," and uncovers a small town's guilty secrets. Ford does an excellent job of tying together all of the various threads of this case. YAs will get a kick out of Leo Waterman and his sidekicks.?Susan B. McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Co (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802732674
• ISBN-13: 978-0802732675
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,292,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars G.M. Ford does it again, June 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Cast in Stone (Leo Waterman Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

G.M. Ford's refreshingly average-joe P.I. Leo Waterman returns. Leo's old friend Heck Sundstrom finds out that married life can, indeed, be murder when he is killed while investigating the death of his son and new daughter-in-law. Heck's widow hires Leo to find out why Heck was convinced Allison Sundstrom didn't go "down with the ship" when she and Heck's son are supposedly killed on their honeymoon cruise.

A twisted trail of lies, deception, and broken lives leads all the way from Seattle to Wisconsin and back, with an ending that will catch the reader off-guard.

With a return of "the Boys," a group of aging winos that serve as Leo's eyes and ears on the street, Leo does his best to make sense out of a friend's death. Ford's flowing writing style, refreshing characters, and occasional tongue-in-cheekiness makes this another enjoyable read from one of the best new writers in this field.

(Note, if you missed the first Leo Waterman mystery, "Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?" go back and read it too. You're missing a great time if you don't.)
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the unusual cut-out on the paperback-version's cover that sometimes annoyed me when reading. But between the covers is priceless entertainment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Private Eye Gem, October 8, 2006

By 

JoeV "Reader" (Arlington Hts, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cast in Stone (Leo Waterman Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read, (and enjoyed), this author's later Frank Corso books, I'm now reading the earlier Leo Waterman series. This is the second in the series tracking the adventures of a Seattle based PI and what a pleasant surprise. The story centers around the mysterious death at sea of a young man and his new wife, (Leo's good friend's son and daughter-in-law), and Leo's investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. The twists and turns of this tale are expertly handled with a unique, (and endearing), cast of characters. The story never flags and Leo's off beat sense of humor kept this reader turning the pages as fast as I could with a healthy number of chuckles and smirks. This is a great book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Suspense-Full Witty Private Eye Novel, January 21, 2002

By 

Joseph L Burke - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cast in Stone (Leo Waterman Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is as good or better than the old Travis McGee stories by John MacDonald. Great plot, wonderful characters, crackling dialogue...author Ford is a superior talent. When someone this good writes a novel, their work almost defies description because the result is like magic. You are transported, informed, entranced, amused, and entertained. Try Ford's series of Leo Waterman, Private Eye, novels. You'll be glad you did. Also... please ignore the luke warm endorsements on the back covers of his books. They don't do the author justice; he is BETTER than they say.