It's a tranquil October morning in northwest lower Michigan, a rural paradise of cherry orchards, blue lakes, and sandy shorelines. The serenity of the day -- and the season -- is shattered when an elderly woman walking her dogs along the beach stumbles upon the bodies of a brutally murdered couple. Sheriff Ray Elkins returns from his debut in the bestselling "Summer People" to track down the elusive killer of a vivacious and spirited young teacher. His search takes him into the dark side of an elite private school -- and into his own long-forgotten past. As Elkins unravels the mystery, the hunter becomes the hunted and one intrigue leads to another in this page-turner.
Color Tour
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About the Author
Aaron Stander lives in the woods of northern Michigan. He is the author of numerous stories, poems, and articles. "Color Tour" is a sequel to his bestselling first murder mystery, "Summer People."
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More About the Author
Aaron Stander spent most of his adult years in the Detroit area, where he taught English and trained writing teachers. In 2000 he and his wife left college teaching positions and moved permanently to their cottage near Traverse City. Aaron is the author of Summer People, a mystery set in Northern Michigan. Color Tour, a sequel to Summer People, was released in July of 2006. Deer Season followed in the spring of 2009, Shelf Ice in the summer of 2010, and Medieval Murders in 2011. He is also the author of numerous articles, stories, poems, and reviews, and the host of Michigan Writers on the Air on Interlochen Public Radio. When not writing or thinking about writing, Aaron spends a lot of time in his kayak.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good mystery, but character takes center stage here,
By
This review is from: Color Tour (Paperback)
Aaron Stander's sheriff-protagonist, Ray Elkins, just keeps getting more and more interesting - or "curiouser and curiouser". I learned a lot more about him in this second book in a series of three (so far) mystery-thrillers. I think the stress should be on the mystery part though. The pace remains sure and even, and maybe even a bit of a plod in COLOR TOUR. Elkins and his evidence collection specialist, Deputy Sue Lawrence, go methodically about their business, painstakingly collecting clues, looking for motives and questioning possible suspects in this grisly double murder set once again on the shore of Lake Michigan. This time the murder investigation involves the staff and students of a posh private prep school. That plod picks up to a trot and eventually even a gallop in the final fifty pages or so (as Elkins begins to take the case much more personally and becomes a target himself), before settling back into a brisk walk as Elkins and Lawrence attempt to tie up all the leftover loose ends of what had become a complex and even messy case.
The truth is I love the characters here more than I do the mystery. Maybe it's just me, but Ray Elkins seems something of a mystery himself. The tantalizing bits and pieces about his background which Stander continues to sprinkle in here and there make the man seem almost more than the sum of his parts. Because he's simply a fascinating guy. Let's see now - a northern Michigan boy who grew up poor, Ray went to college at U of M in Ann Arbor, then did a hitch in the army during the Vietnam era, but in Germany as a military policeman (maybe the beginning of his interest in law enforcement?), after which he returned to grad school at Michigan. I'm not sure if it's ever noted what his field was, but he did teach at college level for an unspecified time before moving back north to become a full-time lawman. And he certainly has risen above his humble origins. His interests and tastes are lofty - nearly aristocratic - and eclectic. Once again, let's see - he reads English literature (Boswell's Johnson and Joyce's Ulysses) as well as fiction and poetry from his own geographic area and generation, represented by Jim Harrison and Judith Minty, and was there a Jack Driscoll book in there? I mean all he needs here are Anne-Marie Oomen and and Doug Stanton (and maybe Aaron Stander) and he'd have the whole Traverse City - Interlochen writers scene pretty well covered. Elkins knows painting, sculpture and architecture, as well as how to build and paddle a kayak. He's also something of a gourmand (or is that gourmet? I'll look it up later). I mean he's the sort of guy who examines the quality of mold in the rind of exotic cheeses before purchase. He speaks appreciatively of a good "tawny port" and other fine wines, and swirls his snifter and sniffs the bouquet before sipping. He recognizes a good "single-malt Scotch," although he rarely indulges, since he never knows when he'll be called back to his police duties. When his much younger deputy sidekick has a bacon cheeseburger and fries for dinner, she brings him "Portobello mushrooms with goat cheese and roasted red peppers on a freshly baked sourdough roll ... [with tea] chamomile with honey, lemon and some chopped ginger ... how you like it." I mean, my God! Imagine Sheriff Andy Taylor or Deputy Fife ordering something like that! (Just kidding, Aaron.) While I would certainly never aspire to such lordly tastes (I kinda LIKE tuna casserole) or ever hope to know as much as Stander's professorial sheriff, I not only admire him, I LIKE him. I know he could teach me plenty. No question, Sheriff Ray Elkins not only gets the job done, he educates you in the process. I look forward to that next book, DEER SEASON. Stay tuned. - Tim Bazzett, author of SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lakeshore Reader,
By
This review is from: Color Tour (Paperback)
Not a murder-mystery reader usually, I decided to read this for it is set where we live. However, it grabbed me at once for this colorful tour is a real trip into spaces and psyches of others that knock one off one's judgmental blocks and keep elevating one's estimation of Sheriff Elkins. The trip is so fantastic. While I was eager to know who "did it", I did not want to reach that destination where this exciting book must end.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty writing, pretty accurate people and places,
By Bedebede (Toledo, OH) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Color Tour (Paperback)
Whether you are a Northern Michigan native like me or whether you are or were a seasonal visitor to this beautiful region, you will recognize the types of people and actual, mostly renamed, places in Aaron Stander's most recent mystery. Everything including the pacing, the sensory descriptions, the tension between the natives and non-natives, and the sorts of businesses and people that work hard to carve a living out of a place most local working people struggle to afford rings true.
If you have never been to Northern Michigan (thinly-veiled Leelanau and Benzie Counties in this book) in the hullaballoo that is summer in the area, visit in the autumn color season (late September to mid October) and take this book. Intersperse reading with vinyard stops, biking the TART trails, hiking in the woods and walking the deserted beaches and you will immerse yourself in this world. Thanks for a nice mystery with a interesting cliffhanger, but also for portraying the places and people faithfully.
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