Cutter's Run

Brady Coyne is back--in CUTTER'S RUN--latest in a series Wlliam G.Tapply fans hope will take us through Brady's old age, eons from now. Brady drives a second hand Jeep in this one. He's his usual funny, thoughtful self, in a beautifully drawn Maine setting, where pollution kills, (and nearly gets Brady). CUTTER'S RUN combines superb writing with an entertaining mystery that transcends the genre, something Tapply does in every one of his novels: In CUTTER, he uses a romantic encounter to ponder the meaning of "betrayal", just as he uses baseball to talk about "life" in FOLLOW THE SHARKS. In Tapply's hands these are not your usual metaphors. The Maine country setting in CUTTER'S RUN adds depth to the action and characters and becomes part of the plot, like the glittering moon over the powdery beach in DEATH AT CHARITY'S POINT. Tapply crafts his tales with pure art.

This is Brady Coyne's 15 appearance, and having read every one of them, I am delighted to see that Brady just gets smarter and wiser, but never loses his sense of humor. Tapply takes us to Maine for a visit with his lady of the moment, a little fly fishing and a truly interesting little mystery with overtones of racism, environmental economics, missing persons and of course, murder. "Deputy" Coyne becomes a lawman of sorts, eludes the red herrings, blends comfortably into the bucolic Maine scene, and endures significant personal and physical danger as he gets to the bottom of some very murky waters, pun intended. We meet some terrific new characters who just feel right and sound real. As in previous Coynes, lawyering (Brady's profession) does not get in the way, and his (and the author's) love of the outdoors is skillfully woven into the story. Its a wonderful story, wonderfully well written. If you like this one, you'll love the others, especially The Seventh Enemy, Tight Lines and The Dutch Blue Error. My personal favorite is Client Privilege (very Nero Wolfe-ish).

I've read each and every Brady Coyne novel and can honestly assert that Cutter's Run proves that both Brady Coyne and William Tapply improve with age. This latest installment in the Coyne series comes complete with Tapply's usual blend of humor and well-drawn characters. It was especially pleasant to see Brady Coyne operate outside of the Boston area (much of Cutter's Run takes place in Maine). As expected, Tapply utilizes his gift for detail and makes the most of the beautiful Maine setting. It was as if I was there with Coyne the entire time! True to Tapply's more recent Coyne Mysteries (Snake Eater, The Seventh Enemy), the mystery in Cutter's Run also touches on a timely socio-political issue. In conclusion, I recommend this novel, as well as the entire Brady Coyne series, to any fans of Fletch or Spenser. Tapply's ommision of needless words (enough to make Strunk & White proud), clever plots, and well described characters and scenery make Cutter's Run and each Coyne novel a true pleasure to read.

There seemed to be a longer wait between Brady Coyne novels but the wait was worth it. This mystery had the usual cast of characters including Charlie McDevitt and Julie (Brady's secretary), but they were included primarily in a peripheral manner. In addition, Boston was mentioned only in passing as the focus of the story is in Maine. The story had the usual outdoor theme that he is famous for and it got into some "high tech" areas for Brady such as e-mail. While the nature and outdoor areas were well written, the section on accounting needed some work. Without giving away the plot, if technical accounting and business practices are to be used as plot devices in the future (i.e. the audit by the CPA firm) more realistic information needs to be presented. The book moved quickly and had great dialog as always. The mix of characters was outstanding and the outcome and the characters involved was always in doubt. I liked the fact that the ending was not neatly tied up. This ending seemed to be much more realistic than the ending of many books. I would recommend this book and the entire series to anyone. Finally, as a silly personal aside, most mystery authors that I read have the annoying habit of referring to characters walking around the house in their bare feet as "padding." That term drives me crazy. I don't know if this is the fault of their editors or if all of these authors just like the term. This book featured no "padding" by the characters nor was there the need for padding in the plot.