Customer Reviews

Murder Takes a Break (Truman Smith Mystery)

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Galveston, Texas principal investigator Truman Smith loathes missing person cases because they either end up badly for his clients or the person does not want to be found. So only as a personal favor to his friend Dino would Tru accept the case of missing college student, Randall Kirbo, who disappeared in the area while on Spring break nine months ago.

Tru starts by looking into the police investigation which appeared to be almost non-existent as the law enforcement officials did the minimum. Tru soon learns that a local vice queen, Big Al, owned the house in which Randall was last seen partying. From there, Tru learns about another college kid, who was at the same party and later was found dead on the beach. Seeing the party as a possible link, Tru continues to look into others who attended the party. Tru now realizes that this Spring break party was not the typical college shindig because a killer must have attended it also.

MURDER TAKES A BREAK is a very good who-done-it due to the counterpoint charm of the lead characters (Tru and Dino). The story line is good though not up to the level expected from Bill Crider especially with the Tru smith series. Fans of the series will enjoy the tale, but will quickly realize that this is not show time.

Harriet KLausner

Murder Takes A Break reunites us with the persistent and wry Truman Smith - purveyor of smart comments that threaten his safety, and solver of even the most intricate and emotionally fraught mysteries.

When two local kids on Spring Break have gone missing, Truman is sent to find out what really happened at the Beach House. With his erstwhile sidekick Dino, Tru' enters the backstreet world of Galveston, with dealers, dodgy Police, families with plenty to hide and the usual dose of violent abandon. There's more than a few awkward moments, and as with the previous story: The Prairie Chicken, what starts as a fairly simple missing persons case rapidly turns into a body-strewn thriller.

Snappy and tense, you do actually wonder whether Truman will survive this mystery - such is the concerted threat he faces - and by the time you get to an explosive climax, you know you've experienced a well-paced and plotted thriller from a writer of quality.