Friday, December 29, 2006

Dead Horse -- Walter Satterthwait

Raoul Whitfield is known to many of us as one of the Black Mask boys, author of classics like Green Ice and Death in a Bowl. He was at one time the most highly paid mystery writer in the U.S.

In 1935, however, his writing career was not going well, and his wife died under mysterious circumstances. How mysterious? Well, that's what Dead Horse is all about. Was her death suicide, as it was declared to be, or was it something more sinister? That's the question that Walter Satterthwait tackles in this novel, with his usual panache.

Fine writing, tricky plotting, great characters, meticulous research: those are the things you expect in a Satterthwait novel, and Walter delivers in spades. You don't want to miss this one. Check it out.

3 comments:

Graham Powell said...

Now that is an interesting premise. I'll have to pick this one up, too.

*Sigh* Just when I thought I'd reach the top of Mount TBR.

Mystery Dawg said...

I read it yesterday in one sitting and it is THAT good.

Peter Rozovsky said...

This sounds worth reading. Whitfield, Norbert Davis and, especially, Jonathan Latimer, were three of my discoveries this year.

===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/