Customer Reviews

The Commission

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Sam Kincaid, Chief of the Special Investigations Branch of the Utah Department of Corrections (DofC), is called in to work with the police on the homicide of Levi Vogue, Chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. For the DofC, the fear is Vogue having been killed by a resentful parole. This appears to be the case when the trail leads to ex-con "Slick" Watts. Watts turns up as an apparent suicide until forensics pronounce it murder. For some, the trail could mean professional disaster; for Sam, personal tragedy.

It took me into a part of the justice system I don't believe I'd ever read before. Sam is well-developed as a character, with a personal life as a single dad. The child is there and believable, but doesn't get in the way of the story. I appreciated the Utah setting, with Sam working in Salt Lake City but living the Park City, but would like to see the author do more with the setting the future books. The dialogue was a bit stiff, for my taste, but not terrible. All-in-all, I enjoyed this debut by Norman and would certainly read his next book.

THE COMMISSION
By Michael Norman
Poisoned Pen Press, 2007,
246 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590583586

Review by Carl Brookins

The novel opens with a horrific event. The Chair of the Utah Board of Pardons is shotgunned to death in the driveway of his upscale home. Enter Sam Kincaid, head of the Special Investigations unit of the Pardons Board. Enter also a slick accomplished homicide detective named Kate McConnell.

The novel is a well-put together police procedural with the usual in-fighting and tensions between cops, different agencies, and the politicians who run them. In a lot of these agencies, readers can assume that the leaders will interfere with the investigation in attempts to avoid scandal, dump malfeasance on others, and gain points for the selves. That happens in this novel which is not in least out of the ordinary.

It does turn out that the roots of the plot turn on some sexual kinkyness, a number of bad guys in unusual places, and behind the scenes machinations by wealthy members of the local society. The story is told by an author who clearly read a book on how not to write a police procedural, how to be careful about changes in point of view, and certain techniques to keep the plot moving. It's all carefully and a little too obviously handled, and occasionally the author lapses into professorial pedantism.

Having said all that, the principal characters, Kincaid and McConnell are interesting enough to entice a reader to follow them into harms way. The story has a strong ring of plausibility and the author's knowledge of police agencies and parole boards comes through. The novel is a solid, capable, first effort.

The Chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole Levi Vogue is coming home from a rendezvous with a prostitute that he has been seeing for a year and in a happy mood. That feeling is shattered when someone outside his home fires a shotgun killing him while taking off half his face. At first it looks like the prostitute's violent boyfriend who just got released from prison is the best suspect but he has an airtight alibi.

Sam Kincaid, Chief of the Special Investigations Branch of the Utah Departments of Corrections, teams up with homicide detective Lieutenant Kate McConnell to work the case. They find an ex-con Charles Watts who has a grudge against the victim, in his car an apparent suicide with a note that looks to be in his handwriting. An autopsy proves that Watts was murdered and his death made to look like a suicide. Although they found the man who killed Vogue they don't know who was pulling his strings and when they try to find the forger they discover he is a murder victim as well. It looks like a group of conspirators are tying up all loose ends. They believe the conspirators are part of the system but finding out who they are puts Sam and his family in danger.

This is not a prison drama but a crime thriller about people who use the system and the criminal element for their own gain. Sam and Kate are fascinating characters who have to deal with state politics and criminals in order to find out who are the puppet masters. The author takes the reader through a step by step investigation that feels realistic yet is very fascinating to the layman.

Harriet Klausner

The book starts with the murder of Levi Vogue, Chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.

Carl Brookins's review is accurate, except that the sexual kinkiness could have replaced by something else and was really a red herring. Publishers Weekly and Harriet Klausner both assert that Watts had a grudge against Vogue - that assertion does not hold up in the book's description of Watts's incarceration and probation details, though late in the book the detectives also assert, without textual evidence prior to that, that Watts had a grudge against Vogue.

Michael Norman must have just watched the movie "Tin Cup" when he started the book <grin>. Vogue's hooker girlfriend's mother describe's her daughter's boyfriend John Merchant as "A first class jerk if you ask me." [Compare Kevin Costner describing Don Johnson - 'he's a real jerk if you ask me'] The girlfriend's mother is an ex-stripper, now motel owner - Kevin Costner's ex-girlfriend is an ex-stripper strip-joint and (later) rundown golf driving range owner. Coincidence, I guess.

The book is good in police procedure, and describes the effects of politics and politicians on police work well. It does not have very good character development - not of the police officers nor of the various suspects or other characters. It unfortunately asserts a police mindset against therapists and other prison clinical staff, ignoring the doctor-patient privilege: "We should probably anticipate the usual whining from the clinical staff. . . It interferes with their client-therapist trust-building relationship or some such b***sh**." Possibly true as to some police officers, but unnecessary in this book.

The book mentions that suspect Sara Stimpson (a prison guard)suffered sexual abuse as a child - totally irrelevant to the book, and does not tie in to anything else.

And finally, Michael Norman wraps things up ever so easily and neatly - a suspect who is found to be one of the several killers in the book "had kept a journal - a very incriminating journal that detailed h** activities and those of h** colleagues for the past three years." (Asterisked to avoid premature gender ID). How very convenient!

When the son of a local and very powerful businessman is gunned down in the driveway of his home in an exclusive neighborhood Lt Kate McConnell is tapped to lead the investigation. Kincaid is called in because the victim--Levi Vogue--was the Chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole. It doesn't take long for the pair to discover Vogue led a less than ideal Mormon lifestyle; he was a philanderer who enjoyed strip clubs and hookers. The two detectives quickly find themselves walking a tight line between an escalating criminal investigation and a deepening political quagmire that threatens not only their careers, but potentially their lives as well.

THE COMMISSION is an enjoyable straight-forward procedural. It is written in first person with an occasional, and not too annoying, switch to third person. The setting is well drawn--while Mr Norman doesn't quite capture the nuances of local life, he does make a good attempt that is more than just throwing out names and places. There are a few scenes in the small Casino border town of Wendover that are particularly well drawn. The cast is broad and the victim and his family are easily compared to a local clan that claims the current Governor as one of its own.

The plot is straight forward and unmarred by any jolting twists. I did guess the conclusion no more than one-third of the way into the novel, but it really didn't bother me. The narrative is clear and readable and there is enough tension and suspense to keep things interesting.

THE COMMISSION is the best mystery novel I have read set in Salt Lake City. It is quick, believable, and very entertaining. It is certainly good enough that I plan to search out the second in the series.

-Gravetapping