Customer Reviews

The Sterling Inheritance

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3 star:		(1)
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Russian expatriate Katerina Sterling hires the Midnight Detective Agency to find her missing husband, financial investor Anthony. His mom Victoria, owner of the private sleuth company, assigns the search to her son part-time investigator Jason Wilder. The relatively easy job turns ugly when Anthony pulls out a gun on Jason, who disarms the man. The River City police arrive almost immediately and quickly handcuff Jason until he is able to clear things up.

Anthony, insisting someone wants to kill him, is accused of murder until he too is found dead. Jason makes inquiries into the deaths thinking in terms of the Russian connection or the wealthy Sterling link as best bets. As Jason checks into the ties to the deceased, he is attracted to Anthony's sister Janice and starts thinking with his wrong head. Thank goodness Mommy Dearest would never let any harm come to her boy as she would not want to think she wasted nine hours in labor, but will Queen Victoria be able to get Anthony to look at the gig a bit differently.

Readers will enjoy this urban Noir starring a host of delightful characters. The relationships that Jason has fostered including the one with his dynamic mother are off beat, quirky and it is fun to observe the give and take. In many ways, Victoria steals the show with her cynical love for her son. The case is well written and clever, but it is the cast that explains why Mike Siverling won the St. Martin's 2002 Best First Private Eye Mystery contest.

Harriet Klausner

It's an ordinary missing person case--a woman reported her husband missing--and private detective Jason Wilder could have solved it in his sleep. But when the missing man tries to shoot him, complains that 'they' were going to kill him, and then turns up to be the lead suspect in a murder case, Wilder figures that this might be more than a run-of-the-mill missing person case after all.

Working with the other members of the Midnight Investigative Agency (headed by his mother), Wilder uncovers hints of attempted arson, booby-traps, the Russian mafia, and a beautiful woman who just might be the real killer after all.

Author Michael Silverling's strong writing kept me involved with the plot. The hint of romance and strange relationship between Wilder and his mother added to the character and deepened the mystery plot. I thought there were a few holes in the mystery (the biggest being the motive for the first murder victim), and it was a bit too easy to guess the killer's identity, but the overall this was a fully enjoyable read.

This book works because of the characters and the dialogue. The plot is a bit weak and way too much attention was spent on telling us where Jason parked his car. But the relationship between Jason and his mother, who owns the detective agency, is delightful and characterized by quips reminiscent of the 20s. It's a delightful first book and I am looking forward to the next one.

Charming characters in a story written with wit, humor, and family relationships. I can't wait to read his next book, The Sorcerers Circle.

The book was delivered quickly and is a good read. I hope he writes another.

I received the book from a used book vender within 4 or 5 days.
Thank you.

The Sterling Inheritance is a delightful debut mystery from Michael Siverling. Filled with interesting characters, humor, and great dialogue -especially the repartee between Victoria and her son Jason, not to mention plenty of action. Heck, this novel even has its own version of a secret decoder ring, sliding panels, and some spyware. I am anxious to read more books by this author.