Customer Reviews

Denial: A Lew Fonesca Mystery (Lew Fonesca Novels)

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Reclusive Lew Fonesca needs closure, but he is in "Denial," which is the name of Stuart Kaminsky's new murder mystery. Lew was devastated when, four years earlier, his beloved wife Catherine was run down and killed by a hit and run driver who was never apprehended. Overcome with grief, Lew abruptly left Chicago and moved to a dumpy apartment in Sarasota, Florida. He now ekes out a bare bones living as a process server, subsists on fast food, showers in the Y, and watches old movies on video.

Like Greta Garbo, Lew claims to want to be left alone, yet somehow he has accumulated a host of friends and acquaintances who care about him. These include eighty-year-old Ann Horowitz, Lew's therapist, Sally, a caseworker with whom he has kept company for three years, and seventy-four year old Ames McKinney, a gun-toting six-foot-four enforcer who gives Fonseca much needed muscle when he inevitably gets into trouble.

Lew was an investigator in Chicago, and he hasn't lost his touch. In "Denial," he takes on two new clients. One is an elderly woman named Dorothy Cgnozic, who swears that she witnessed a murder in Seaside Assisted Living, a facility for senior citizens. The Seaside staff scornfully dismisses Dorothy's allegations, so she hires Lew to prove that "she is not a demented old woman." Lew's other client is Nancy Root, a divorced actress whose fourteen-year-old son, Kyle, was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Lew takes on the second case reluctantly, because it reminds him too much of the tragedy that robbed him of his wife. When Lew looks into Nancy's eyes, he sees a heartrending grief that mirrors his own.

Kaminsky has a laid back, dryly humorous, bare bones style of writing. Lew is a deliciously sarcastic narrator. When Fonesca shakes hands with a strong and formidable woman, he states, "She had a grip that could crack walnuts." The cast of characters includes the quirkiest bunch of individuals that you are likely to meet in any murder mystery. There is even an alligator named Jerry Lee, who is the unofficial mascot of one of the residents in the Seaside Assisted Living facility.

"Denial" is more whimsical than realistic. The two murder mysteries in the book are not exactly classic whodunits, nor are the solutions to the crimes particularly logical. However, the plot is engrossing enough, and Lew proves to be a dogged and skilled investigator. The novel is most noteworthy, however, not for the mystery elements, but for the insightful way that Kaminsky portrays the walking wounded. The criminals in this book are ordinary individuals who are hurting, so they lash out at others, making self-destructive choices that ultimately lead to their downfall. In Lew's case, however, there is hope. With the help of his wise therapist, Lew has begun to take his first tentative steps towards escaping the prison that he has so laboriously built around himself. "Denial" is a poignant novel that will entertain Lew Fonesca fans and may even gain some new readers for the talented Stuart Kaminsky.

Lew Fonesca, rendered a widower in Chicago four years ago when a hit-and-run driver killed his wife, has relocated to Sarasotsa, Florida. Formerly an investigator in Chicago, Fonesca tries to lead a low key life as a process server. Mired in depression and grief, he lives and works out of a low-rent office. For a depressed guy lost in himself, Lew seems to be the social hit of the town. He knows just about everyone, so it seems. This of course leads to him being called upon to help people.

In this novel, on the same day, an elderly woman in a nursing home calls Lew because she thinks she saw a resident being murdered. No one, of course, believes her. But Lew will investigate, just as a favor. Minutes after receiving this call, Lew is summoned to the office of one of his process serving clients. A senior partner introduces him to a woman whose son was recently run down by - are you ready - a hit-and-run driver.

When not talking to his neighborly therapist about his depression and grief, Lew is sort of hanging out with an assortment of other women in town. All acquaintances at best; no lovers for the grieving Lew.

So Lew is on the case helping to determine if indeed a resident of the assisted living facility has been murdered . . . and tracking down the hit-and-run driver who keeps calling Lew with tearful apologies when he isn't trying to run Lew down with his car.

It all works out in the end. With the help of a gunslinging refugee from what seems like 19th Century Montana, a little assistance from a friendly police officer and other odd and wonderful coincidences, Lew tracks down all the killers and solves all the mysteries.

Not exactly edge-of-your-seat reading. The plot is a bit too filled with happy coincidences that allow Lew to plod on. The characters are thin and sure do know their platitudes and cliches. Oh yes, Lew also helps a troubled young black boy out as well.

Overall, a lightweight mystery, fun to read. Sized right for a long flight, a rainy afternoon or a sunny day at the beach.

Jerry

This new release is the fourth novel in the "Lew Fonesca" series, and it holds up to the quality of its predecessors. I suggest that mystery fans read the four in order, starting with Vengeance, then Retribution, and third, Midnight Pass. Fonesca is a Florida-based process server and finder of missing people. He is struggling to cope with the tragic loss of his wife, and subsequent loss of interest in life itself. Slowly, through the four novels, which cover about two years of his life, Lew acquires a new family of friends and a host of interesting acquaintences. In "Denial" he tracks the unknown driver who ran down a 14-year-old boy, and solves a puzzling murder in an assisted living facility. He makes progress in his not-yet-intimate relationship with a social worker, and starts a "Big Brother" relationship with a needy teenage boy. Finally, there is a nice surprise at the end, when Lew makes a decision which might make the next book in the series the best yet. Highly recommended for fans of Robert B. Parker and Lawrence Block, or mysteries in general.

At the conclusion of this book, we realize that there is more to come.
Like other reviewers, I recommend that readers not familiar with this series start from book one and read chronologically. The constant thread throughout the Fonesca series is his psychological trip through the healing process in the wake of his wife's death. First, he reaches a milestone where he is able to speak her name. Now, at the end of _Denial_, he finally realizes that he has to find his wife's killer.

As a Southwest Florida resident who considers Sarasota a second home, I always enjoy the settings in the Fonesca books. Here, we end up in the Asolo Theater, among other interesting spots.

The story itself is right on par with the previous books: Two mysteries that keep you guessing until the end. Lew Fonesca is the quintessential anti-hero--a guy you can root for.

Denial A Lew Fonesca Novel
by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Book Review by Jay Gilbertson

Sometimes a good book is a lot like a delicious treat, you have a bite and before you know what happened--poof--you're reading the last sentence.

"Denial" is just such a story, short on fancy details, no clever writing technique to get in the way of a good old-fashioned mystery. This is the kind of novel you can zip through in an afternoon and by the end, have the satisfaction of knowing that this particular series goes on, and on. "Denial" is the fourth in the Lew Fonesca series, but I liked the fact that I didn't have to have read the first three in order to know what was going on--I hit the first page and was hooked!

Meet Lew Fonsesca, (every new character Lew encounters mispronounces his last name, what is Kaminsky trying to tell us?) a two-dimensional hero/mystery-solver who lives in the back of a sordid, two-story office building in downtown Sarasota, Florida. Lew lost his beloved wife to an unsolved hit-and-run accident a few years back and was trying his best to hide from what was left of his life. Right--yet at every turn--there's not a person he meets he's not on a first name basis with. He makes a meager living as a process server, but his real talent is in solving the various murder mysteries that literally walk in his office door.

Kaminsky has created a Columbo-like character in that Lew more or less stumbles into, through and then out of several delectably devious murders--one of which happens to be a hit-and-run. This, in a rather obvious plot-trick-hook `modus operandi' moves Lew into the mind-set that he too must now, after years of mourning, find his deceased wife's killer. This, of course, will allow Lew to move forward in life and even, God forbid, find a new love. This kind of hook-planting stuff can drive a reader crazy, but Kaminsky does it with careful a-plumb.

Can we say, "I wonder what the next book will be about?" Hmmm, find the wife's killer, put him/her in the slammer and open an honest to goodness detective agency? There's gotta be a movie in there somewhere.

A favorite character who lends some psychoanalytical mind fixing into the depressed `Life-of-Lew' is eighty-year-old retired psychiatrist Ann Horowitz. She either calls his cell-phone, leaving brilliantly worded messages full of wisdom or raps on his office door bearing just the right bit of mind-magic as well as a hot cup of brew. Her `reality check' in the form of excellently delivered dialog is alone worth the read. I think we could all use a hit of Horowitz's mind-fixing now and again.
The snappy writing rhythm and surprisingly bleak dialog was pitch-perfect. It created a haunting, lonely quality that surrounds Lew like a gray cloud, drawing the reader into this carefully crafted world and yet managed to keep me wondering what could possibly happen next? The endless coincidences and clichés galore all flowed together into a fast-paced read just right for our long winters and padded with enough loose story lines for Kaminsky to write a pile more.

I say, "Write on!"

'Denial' is my first read of Stuart Kaminsky, and this 'quirky' book and
the authors quick wit were totally refreshing. His characters are unique
and enticing. Surely I will be reading more of the Lew Fonseca mysteries
as well as the other offerings of his mystery genre.

Mr. Kaminsky creates yet another character that many will relate to while being completely absorbed by the story. No super men hear. No ultra suave main character beding every damsel in distress. Just an average guy with some bagage trying to get by. We find ourself wishing life would get better for Lew. That is a reflection of how Kaminsky makes his characters come alive.

Lew Fonesca is a widower from Chicago, recently transplanted to Sarasota, FL. He is working as a process server, but somehow seems to get involved in some investigations. This time an elderly nursing home resident is convinced she witnessed a murder. In another case, a 14 year old boy is the victim of a hit-and-run accident. The case of the hit-and-run is close to home since Lew's wife was victim of a fatal hit-and-run that remains unsolved. Anyone familiar with the Sarasota area will appreciate some of the local references. Hopefully, you will have read the three previous books in this series, although Kaminsky's books will stand alone.