Perdition House

I was appropriately brutal in my review of "Judas Island" and after reading that one, I let "Perdition House" lie around for a few months. I was pleasantly suprised at this book. It was exactly what I look for in crime mysteries. It was complicated with mysterious characters and our lead character was focused. There was merely a smattering of that simpering murdered husband blues routine (that was like a Dr. Phil miniseries in Judas), and the tedium of romantic, foreign pursuits was held to a minumum. Bravo, this was a solid crime novel. Very well orchestrated plot, crime, bad guys, and the mysterious victims added a nice flavor to the composition.

Kathryn Wall is destined to become one of the great mystery writers of our time. I've gotten so I can hardly wait for the next Bay Tanner adventure to hit the stands. Unlike some popular female sleuths, Bay is no ditz, no wilting violet looking up beneath her lashes to glean her clues from some macho male. She's sexy, funny, gutsy, and savvy--the kind of woman you'd love to have as a best friend. Bay Tanner makes me laugh out loud, a rare and delightful treat. And Wall's skilled plotting and scintillating prose keeps me turning pages. I think her latest episode with her arrant "distant cousin," Mercer Prescott,is her best work yet.

You'll feel like an old friend has come for a visit in this third Bay TAnner mystery. As Bay winds her way through the Lowcountry, you'll almost be able to smell the marsh. When a young woman she's never seen or heard of before shows up in the local jail claiming to be a distant cousin, Bay has no idea the path that the two of them are about to embark on--one that could claim both their lives. A great read just as we've come to expect from Kathy Wall.

Former financial consultant Bay Turner convalesces at her Hilton Head home still recovering from the murder of her spouse. However, when she is asked to help her twenty something fifth half-cousin Mercer Mary Prescott who was arrested as a vagrant and locked up in Beaufort County jail, reluctantly Bay gets involved. Though a relative, Mercer is actually a stranger. Bay gets her dad's friend Judge Talbot Simpson to set bail. Mercer is freed.Still Mercer remains in trouble due to a federal trespass charge for illegally entering the Savannah River nuclear plant. When Mercer flees thugs, goons and cops pursue. With other family woes descending on her, Bay joins the chase only to become involved in the deadliest family secret of all, PERDITION HOUSE.PERDITION HOUSE is a strong thriller that seems almost out of control, but is deftly kept in line by author Kathryn R. Wall. The story line centers on Bay, who just wants a little peace of mind, but her relatives think otherwise. Instead of domestic tranquillity, Bay concludes that blood may be thicker than water and she somehow seems to get sucked into storms caused by her extended family starting with Mercer. This terrific tense thriller takes readers on quite a ride.Harriet Klausner