Moving Targets

I really enjoyed this book, although the ending left me a bit surprised (and not in a good way). The story seemed to turn into a soap opera plotline right at the end. Up until then everything was believable. The book is still a good read and the characters come alive in your mind. It was hard to put down. I guess I need to see where the story goes from here.

I was really glad to see this book on the list of finalists for the annual Lammy awards. It's a intriguing mystery with real ambiance and complicated character development. In fact -- and this is a pretty high compliment from me -- it reminded me of JM Redmann. If you like JM, then you'll like this Helen Black mystery. I hope that Pat Welch will write more like it, and soon.

I have to admit that Helen Black never really caught my imagination. In the first couple of the Helen Black mysteries, she seemed like a cookie-cutter ex-cop private detective with a chip on her shoulder. Been there, read that.The years went by and I didn't miss Helen Black, though I know a lot more books were published in the series. Recently, however, I saw a rave, positive print review for Moving Targets. That particular reviewer sometimes hates books I like, but so far has never liked a book that I didn't also like. Could this be the same Helen Black by the same Pat Welch?It is, but it hardly seems possible. Where atmosphere sadly lacked in the earliest books, Moving Targets is drenched with it. Literally. I broke into a sweat just reading about summer in Mississippi. The swelter was inescapable and wonderfully conveyed on the page.Helen, too, has come alive as a character I've never read in the small press mysteries before. She has indeed hit bottom, and makes mistake after mistake. Her judgement is sadly impaired by alcohol, the heat, clothes that refuse to fit, and an urgent desire to end her non-voluntary celibacy. The core mystery was also compelling. Like with VI Warshawsky, it starts small, but rapidly unravels into something big. Soon large men with little brains are chasing Helen through the heat, and Helen is wondering how she got into a mess that started with a family photograph. She fails to resist a predatory seductress and doesn't care that it's her last friend on earth's lover she's rolling around with. But, in her last shining moment before a horrific conclusion, she finds the decency to resist the advances of a woman far too young and unstable to know what she's really doing. Helen Black hits bottom and Pat Welch hits top form in taking her there. After not caring if I ever read another word about Helen Black again I am panting for the next one. Ms. Welch, get busy!