Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic hard-boiled private eye fiction, September 15, 2006
Private investigator Frank Johnson doesn't want to get involved in a murder investigation, but when a grieving mother offers him two hundred thousand dollars, he decides he can't afford to walk away from the case. Teen Emily Taliaferro was killed, apparently by her horse. But there's more dirty in the rural Virginia town than just an accidental death. Punks lean against the walls and threaten strangers--including Frank, and Emily wasn't exactly a sweet and virginal girl. It doesn't take long to figure out she was having an affair with her horse trainer.
Johnson's investigation lets him run into Sheila, the old girlfriend who helped him get started in the private eye business, but the local sheriff warns Johnson to get out of town. Still, Johnson doesn't give up easily, even when he's jumped and beaten.
While Johnson can see that there's something very rotten going on in the town, figuring out what really happened to Emily is a lot tougher. And when his leading suspect joins Emily in death--this time obviously by murder, it seems that all of Johnson's leads have petered out. Of course, staying ahead of the local rapist-rednecks is another problem for Johnson.
Author Ed Lynskey writes a classic hard-boiled mystery. His sleuth, Frank Johnson, is world-weary, occasionally introspective, and cursed with a flexible but hard-working set of ethics that won't let him take the easy way out. Lynskey matches rough characters with sparse language and a weary and gray environment that belies what should be bucolic horse pastures and country. THE DIRT-BROWN DERBY is one of those books that grabs you early. I couldn't put it down and read it in a single sitting. I'm happy to recommend this one.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a Mystery Read is all About!, October 14, 2006
Our main character,PI Frank Johnson, in this quick-witted fast paced mystery read is a no-nonsense, often coarse speaking man who says what he has to say and does what he has to do. Definitely the kind of man you may not want to bring home to meet the family but you would want on your side in any investigation. PI Johnson is somewhat down on his luck financially so when he is hired by Mary Taliaferro, a very wealthy owner of a horse estate who forks over a hefty sum for his services, he simply cannot walk away although a murder investigation is not something he particularly wants to get into. .
Ms.Taliaferro's teenage daughter Emily has died, killed by her horse it is said. The police call it a horrible accident, Mary calls it murder and PI Johnson at first figures this will be a cut and dry case, but he is sadly mistaken. He quickly learns not all the characters in this town are what they appear to be, including Emily who PI Johnson learns was having an affair with her horse trainer who becomes a the prime suspect in PI Johnson's mind, that is until he turns up dead as well. All leads seem to come to a halt but Johnson will not give up even though the local Sheriff wants him out of town and he must deal with other local riff-raft who only complicate his life.
The plot and heat of this murder gets hotter by the page and the reader wonders just what did happen to Emily. The plot is twisted, as only a good mystery read would be, leading you here there and everywhere but to the truth; I don't think you'll guess the ending of this one.Frank is determined to find out the answer and in doing so putting his own life in grave danger. Quite a roller coaster read and one that will keep you glued to the pages from beginning to end.
Mr. Lynskey does a great job in defining his characters and bringing them to life.
From PI Johnson to the local Sheriff and townspeople, right down to Mary, Emily's mother, they are brought alive in your minds eye; and along with his descriptive clarity of the local you are able to bring the entire story to life visually which is always a plus in any read. Our author certainly is proving to be one top-notch writer in the mystery realm and has kept this reviewer satisfied with each work I have reviewed. Another good job Mr. Lynskey!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Debut, March 7, 2007
Broke, reluctant, and world-weary PI Frank Johnson is a memorable protagonist in this story that is is lightening-fast out of the starting gate and gallops full tilt to the last page finish line.
Through a mutual acquaintance, Frank Johnson's investigative services are recommended to Mrs. Mary Taliaferro, a wealthy aristocrat who owns a sprawling horse estate near Middleburg, Virginia. Mrs. Taliaferro has recently suffered the loss of her teenage daughter Emily in a tragic riding incident when the young woman was thrown and evidently crushed by her highly spirited thoroughbred Hellbent. In the opinion of the police and local medical examiner, this was obviously a cut and dry accidental death, but her mother insists it was no accident at all, but murder. Johnson is not at all convinced and resists taking on the case until he is offered a sum he cannot refuse - two hundred thousand dollars!
Johnson's efforts at investigating the case are thwarted at every turn not only by the recalcitrance and suspicious behavior of some of the estate employees and interference by some local riff-raff, but also by the local sheriff who hates his guts and wants to run Johnson out of town. Not long after our PI gets his first hot lead and identifies a prime suspect, the suspect too turns up dead.
Now with two apparent suspicious deaths to solve and with leads taking him from one dead end to another, Frank needs help and recruits Sheila, an ex-cop and his former lady love who helped him get started in the PI biz. Hot on the trail, the pace picks up once again...leading the reader through some stunning plot twists and to a very satisfying resolution.
Mr. Lynskey is a particularly gifted writer and this is one debut that definitely should not be missed.
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