Private Detective Frank Johnson has been retained the
wealthy Mary Taliaferro to get to the bottom of her
teen-aged daughter's untimely demise. Ruled an accident
by local officals, Mrs. Taliaferro is convinced that
foul play was involved in the horse-stomping death of
Emily Taliaferro. It quickly becomes clear that Emily
was not as innocent as she appeared. Her horse-trainer,
with whom she was having a May - December romance, is
murdered in the stables the day after Johnson takes
the case. With Johnson's only suspect dead, what follows
leads the sleuth to worry for his own life as he tries
to untangle half-truths and cancerous relationships
between suspects. Facing an uphill battle against the
sherriff's office and a town full of secrets, Lynskey
allows time for an old flame to return to our hero's
life to comfort him the only way she knows how.
Those who have a warm place in their hearts for hard-boiled
noir should enjoy The Dirt Brown Derby. It is replete
with private eye tricks of the trade, friends in high
and low places that assist Johnson in his quest for
the truth, and seedy small-town attitudes. Though set
in rural Virginia, the sleuth's big city P.I. style
carries the story well enough to keep the reader's interest.
While Lynskey doesn't offer anything new to the genre,
he does create an entertaining journey throughout the
mystery. A short read at 169 pages, THE DIRT BROWN DERBY
is a fun diversion.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Flood Gondek interviews aspiring writers on her blog, FlashFlood
and her work has appeared
in Flashing in the Gutters.
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