Black like Blood

Esbeth Walters is one of the most memorable characters to spring to action on the pages of a mystery, and what a hum-dinger this one is. For someone in her seventies she navigates the speed bumps and hurdles of this case in heroic fashion. She does not brook fools gently, but it is the determined and Machiavellan minds out to thwart her efforts with whom she must contend and do mental combat. A small Texas town with plenty to hide, greed and pride, and not so hidden motives combine for a complex case that is beyond the powers of the local law to unravel. There are plenty of fascinating characters up to no darn good in this compelling yarn, and there's one grump to love.

When he spots a boat heading out in a storm, Texas Ranger Tillis Macrory calls his friend (and suspicious father) and the two head out to check. A couple of teenage divers discover the long-dead body of another diver--a diver held in a bear-trap under water. All of a sudden, all of Hoel's Dam, Texas's dark secrets begin to emerge. How can this really be a city without a history. What happened to the diver? What happened to the recently deceased mayor? Is there really a diamond mine on Hoel property? What caused the feuds between the Hoel, Granite, and Spurlock families? Ranger Macrory doesn't feel like he's getting much active help from the sheriff. Instead, the new dispatcher, aging Esbeth Walters, and mysteriously capable Sheriff Deputy Gala, along with the two kids, seem to be the only help Macrory can get. Even his boss is jerking on the reins, trying to make sure Macrory doesn't rock political boats. Macrory and Esbeth discover that there really were diamonds--but was it a hoax? If so, for what possible purpose? Then there's Old Man Hoel, with his huge ranch and his refusal to see anyone. The Granite family isn't as rich as the Hoels, but it was definitely involved in feuding--and is interested in finding the rumored chest of diamonds. And a mysterious gambler has moved into town and is making arrangements that have to have a meaning. Because a big-time gambler like Morgan Lane wouldn't move into a small-time town like Hoel's Dam just for a weekly poker game with the sheriff. Author Russ Hall maintains multiple parallel investigative tracks as the kids, Macrory, and Esbeth each tug on the clues to uncover the truth that has already killed so many. Hall's writing is vivid, sometimes almost poetical with Macrory a particularly intriguing character. I was somewhat confused by Hall's reference to Macrory and his friend, game warden Logan, fighting in Korea. As BLACK LIKE BLOOD is set in the present day, this would make Macrory in his seventies--and I was shocked when he described himself as 43. This continuity issue did distract me from the story, which is a shame, because the story is interesting, complicated, and ready to offer one more twist just when you think you've figured everything out.

While diving in a storm at night, teenage lovers Donnie Spurlock and Karyn Rainey find a corpse at the bottom of the lake. The townsfolk of Kiowa County are already shaken with the recent unsolved murder of Donnie's father, the mayor of Hoel's Dam, Dennie. The corpse found in the lake is Dennie's older brother Hugh, a WW II veteran missing for forty years whose father also went missing. Texas Ranger Tillis Macrory investigates the homicides linked by blood, but rumors also include lost diamonds. As the two youngsters refuse to back off and continue digging for the truth, new sheriff's dispatcher septuagenarian retired schoolteacher Esbeth Walters mistrusts all law enforcement officials although she thinks Tillis is the cleanest except when he thinks with the wrong head involving the new deputy Gala. Esbeth, the star of NO MURDER BEFORE ITS TIME, actually gets involved about halfway into this enjoyable police procedural. Three teams of investigations compete. Tillis assisted by his long time friend and Karyn's father game warden Logan make up the most professional inquiries; the sheriff's office is officially in charge; finally the teen lovers provide an amateur sleuth look. Russ hall brings these divergent competing investigations with Esbeth the retired teacher looking down from her big "desk" with a moral light as she trusts none of the players to learn the truth though her reasoning varies. BLACK LIKE BLOOD is a deep Texas who-done-it with a strong cast. Harriet Klausner