A Number to Die For [Paperback]

Malcolm Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Terence Powell, fortyish professor from California, spends part of each year on Runaia, a beautiful Pacific island, where he has a house on the beach. He is involved in conflicting love affairs, one with Jan from California and one with a beautiful Runaian girl. Terence is agonizing about this when a woman is found brutally murdered with '69' in blood on her forehead, and the police suspect Terence. Then Jan arrives. Soon he's fighting with Jan and is obsessed with finding the murderer. His quest takes him to the local library, to Manea, an atoll seven hundred miles north, and leads to New Zealand as well.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A mystery with an island feel... a tense and entertaining read -- Night Owl Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Elderberry Press (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932762361
• ISBN-13: 978-1932762365
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,192,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A sort of every man's fantasy: an island paradise with friendly girls, lots of beer, sand, and island background, March 17, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Number to Die For (Paperback)

Malcolm Clark is a retired physicist, who spent most of his career flying objects in space. He owned real estate in the South Pacific for many years.

Terence Powell is a professor from California, and spends most of his down time on Runaia, a South Pacific island, in his little house on the beach. He is involved with several women and haunted by the death of his college girlfriend in a sailing accident. When an island girl, Mere, is found brutally stabbed after Powell's sexual encounter with her, he automatically is considered the number one suspect. Friends in high places vouch for him, but he decides to launch his own investigation. In the meantime, another love interest shows up from California. She is independent, but finally agrees to help Powell with his sleuthing, with mixed results:

"Finally, she found a photo of Vara in his second last year on the faculty, seated at a table with three students - the Maori Council - and there, at the other end of the table, the caption identified a much younger Mere Upu. She was gazing adoringly at Vara; it was Jan's first view of Mere and she couldn't suppress a surge of jealousy, even anger."

The beauty of this charming little mystery is the author's familiarity with Polynesia in general. The reader is treated to a travelogue that covers the topography of the islands; the culture; the crops and food; and the attitudes and mores of the people of the islands. As a mystery, Clark relies on the nature of the beast to provide an exotic backdrop for Terence Powell, who is by his own admission, confused about the opposite sex. He is a flawed academic, but his heart overcomes his social clumsiness in the end.

The plot itself is a whodunit, and even beginning a search in a society so alien to our own is quite a challenge. Clark relies on expatriates from Australia and New Zealand to help translate some of the more difficult island nuances. But in general, A NUMBER TO DIE FOR is a sort of every man's fantasy: an island paradise with friendly girls, lots of beer, sand, and island background to form a plot that meanders its way from beginning to end. A NUMBER TO DIE FOR is a great escape!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

5.0 out of 5 stars A VACATION WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR EASY CHAIR, March 26, 2005

By 

Jack Of Alltrades "Just another soul" (Loth Ethtadoth Unidoth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Number to Die For (Paperback)

This novel smells, tastes, feels like the island paradise in which it is set. Clark has captured the islands on paper---no small feat. The prose is succinct and elegant. More mystery readers should discover this new author.