FALCON’S BEND SERIES BOOK 1: DEGREES OF SEPARATION
By Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
Genre: Mystery
ISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-88-8
Pages: Paper: 319
Price: Adobe Reader Format - $4.99
HTML Format - $4.99
MOBI Format - $4.99
Paperback print copy - $16.99 + s&h
Yes! A new series for my collection.
Ms. Wiesner describes her and Ms. Spindler’s new series the following “None of the Falcon’s Bend Series books are cozies. They’re all Mystery/Police procedurals. All are whodunnits except….” I’ll keep you in suspense as to the “except.”
I agree completely. There is something gritty and basic about Falcon’s Bend. While set in Wisconsin, Falcon’s Bend, isn’t some cliché filled “one-horse town.” Lieutenant Pete Shasta and his partner Danny Vincent are not bumbling, overly polite, happy go lucky, perfect officers. They’re cops. They have a murder (or two) that needs solving and like dogs with old bones they’re not letting go.
They are flawed; they are human. Pete’s failed first marriage haunts his new marriage…will he get past that Lisa isn’t his first wife. Lisa understands and supports Pete, she may not like Pete’s long dedicated hours, but she knew this when she married him. Danny’s the ladies man (a nice guy ladies man, but a ladies man) but when he falls for a suspect, well that just might cause some trouble.
I like Pete and Lisa and the challenges facing them. Pete and Danny have a presence here, but it's subtle and knowing there's four other books my gut tells me the complexity of the characters will show more as the series moves along.
“Degrees of Separation” surrounds the murder of a stripper. Nothing unusual or different, right? Have you ever heard of a men’s club where all the strippers live with their boss and his wife? That one stripper, Cherry, is the wife’s twin sister? Why did they all move from Los Angeles to Falcon’s Bend, Wisconsin? Their parents really named them: Cherry, Teresa (okay this one doesn’t count) Deidre aka Dee (okay same here) Vanessa, Lacey, Sugar, and wife, Melody? All right, their names might not be that out of it, but come on--they’re all twenty-one?
Boss, Andre Trelawney is guilty of something, but is it murder?
Something strange is going on at the Danse de Minuit.
One character’s abuse history did get to me, pushed my comfort levels, but not enough to turn me against story. Sadly, it was needed for this character’s realistic development. Behind every face there’s a story and reason why they are who they are and how the monsters find them.
Did I solve the murder mystery? Sorta. Given the quality of writing, I knew Ms. Wiesner and Ms. Spindler wouldn’t throw their readers an out-of-the-blue-unwarranted solution. However, they offered enough evidence that I could have been wrong.
The ending left me well satisfied. As the title might suggest to you, “Degrees of Separation,” we’re all linked and our lives change by degrees. Take a left here; make choice A over B; one misunderstanding and our lives change. Each solution fit the individual with only the minimum fairy tale ending. Hey, even a realistic police mystery deserves at least one happy ending.
A potentially strong series that I suspect will have a few surprises.
I’m visiting Falcon’s Bend again and again, but you’ll have to come back for those.