Fatal Obsession

Fatal Obsession Stephen Greenleaf 1983. I'm going to give this 4 *'s because I like Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner series so much, and because even an off day for Greenleaf still makes for a good read. But this fourth volume in the series seems to lose some of the steam that has built up over the previous three. Away from Marsh's home area of San Francisco and Northern California, the lovely specificity of place that informs so many great mystery series is missing, and of course the cadre of support characters that has been forming make only a token appearance or two on the phone. Sometimes taking a break from the home stomping grounds can be a nice breather for a series that's getting stale, but that's hardly the case so early in this one. Fatal Obsession takes place in and around Marsh's Midwestern hometown of Chaldea, population 6189, to which after nearly 30 years away he has been called by his sister Gail to decide what to do with a plot of land left to them and their two brothers, Matt and Curt, by Uncle Raymond several years ago. Gail wants to keep it in the family and let her daughter and son in law farm it, while Matt and Curt want to sell out. Marsh gets to cast the deciding vote (it takes 3 to sell), and the vultures are circling -- the town wants it for an industrial park to save their economy of failed factories; the environmentalists for a preserve; oil, coal and agribusiness each have their proposal. Marsh, ever the moralist, spends the book trying to figure out what is fair and just. But this being a mystery, something just has to crop up to stir the pot, and it does -- Curt's son Billy, still suffering from his experiences in the Vietnam War, and making a royal nuisance of himself, is found hanged almost as soon as Marsh hits town. Everyone seems eager for it to be a suicide, but Matt isn't so sure and investigates. Plus, his high school sweetheart who brutally dumped him has recently moved back to town. There's lots going on, and it's definitely not a bad book, but it somehow just does not gel for me, and problems loom larger than they might otherwise. The resolution of Billy's death seems forced, and although there are prior hints as to its general nature the detailed who and why seems too much the deus ex machina. The big plot question to me, though, is just what is so special about this particular, not very large, plot of land? There are abandoned factories galore, and farmers are being forced to sell out and auction off their property on what seems like a weekly basis. The mineral rights of interest seem like the sort that would apply to any plot in the area or would be negligable on a small plot. So why is the Tanner plot the singular one that will save the town, or draw the extractive industry wheeler dealers with their nefarious schemes? (And on a more minor level, why has this come to a head just now, this week? the land has been farmed on a shares basis by its neighbor since Uncle Raymond died.

The writing was so great in this book that I found myself reading sentences over again just to savor the language. This is my second Greenleaf book, and it is great to know that I have at least half a dozen more awaiting me (assuming the rest are as good as the two I've already read).The plot involves Greenleaf's lawyer-turned-private investigator, Marsh Tanner, returning from San Francisco to his Iowa home town to discuss what to do with the family farm. Two of his brothers want to sell it (but to whom -- coal strip miner, wildcat oil company, neighboring farmer, the town?), whereas his sister wants to keep the land in the family and let her daughter and SIL farm it.Not long after Marsh arrives in town, however, his bad-boy nephew is found hung -- although it appears to be suicide, Marsh has reason to question this verdict. He starts poking around, and in the course of poking around, learns a lot of things about the people of his home town that had been kept secret.Greenleaf's characters are vivid and memorable, and I was kept guessing about what happened to nephew Billy until the final chapter -- but it all made sense.

I grew up in this town! It was amazing to picture the settings of my youth as the story unfolded.I look forward to Greenleaf's next Tanner book.

Most interesting of the John Tanner series. Interesting plot twists and turns inter-woven with period settings. Great book to read as escapism. Kept my attention throughout and such that I didn't want to quit reading and looked for excuses to interrupt other activites to finish reading.