Prison Blues

I became a fan of Salter after reading her research on perpetrators and offenders in her non fiction piece, "Predators". I too, work with victims and survivors of abuse and violence and I loved her non fiction so much that I decided to give her fiction books a shot. "Fault Lines" and "White Lies" were my firsts, and they were also great, however quite similar in character development. When I started reading "Prison Blues", I was riveted right from the first paragraph. I have read other thrillers that PhD's attempt to author, but no one does it quite like Salter. Her writing is so gritty and truthful, yet funny and sarcastic when discussing a topic so sensitive and morbid, like sadists and sexual violence. Michael Stone, the protagonist, always finds herself in sticky situations, but yet uses her knowledge and quick thinking to get away. I am envious of Stone and they way she makes everything "OK" in the end. If anyone has ever worked in a helping profession and all of their clients are people just trying to put themselves back together from what trauma someone else has caused, then it's easy to start dreaming and wanting to dissociate with the present and develop a scenario, where they get to save their clients from more heart ache and the perpetrator gets just what is coming to them in the form of justice. I love Salter's work, fiction or non fiction and I recommend this book in particular to anyone who likes to escape and pretend they are someone else who is smart, and gets to save the good guys, and put the bad guys where they belong.

Michael Stone, forensic psychologist, is asked to lead a group session at Nelson's Point Correctional Facility, Vermont. The group consists of sexual predators who suspiciously appear to be hiding something from her. Michael is replacing Eileen Steelwater who was fired after being discovered having sex with one of the inmates. Michael wonders why Eileen would break her ethical code. Violence breaks out in the prison. The group Michael leads becomes increasingly suspect. What are they hiding and why? Anna Salter's writing is reminiscent of the early excellent work of Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky and Patricia Cornwell. This is a character rich work that never delves into the excess. The minutia of Michael's life is kept to a minimum in favor of plot progression. Michael Stone is a likable character and her supporting staff reasonably realistic. Ms. Salter, a forensic psychologist, herself, manages to mix just the right amount of fact with fiction so as to never appear preachy. The story, itself, is both compelling and well paced. This is not the most exciting of the nominated books in this category, but, it is the best written and my choice for the Edgar.

Salter really knows what she is writing about. The only difference between what she writes and reality is that in the real world things are more boring, because in the real world the good guys lose much more often. For people who like novels that teach them about what life is really like, there is little better.

When a former friend gets caught having sex with a prisoner, psychologist Michael Stone gets drafted to take over her group. Michael (although she has a man's name, Michael is definitely female) is eight months pregnant and has issues of her own, but she agrees to take the job partly to learn why her normally conservative friend could have made such a horrible mistake. What she finds in the psychology group surprises and frightens her. Her friend insists that one of the inmates is innocent but Michael knows exactly the kind of manipulating disorder Jim Walker represents. The group isn't functioning right but that is the least of Michael's problems. She suspects that the group may also be involved in something more serious than corrupting the morals of a psychologist. Despite her pregnancy and the strongly urged advice of her baby's father, Michael decides she has to investigate. Author Anna Salter obviously knows psychology and the mindset of deviant personalities. Even better, she combines this knowlege with a powerful story-telling sense to deliver a powerful and thrilling story. The more Michael investigates, the more loose ends turn up, and the farther into danger she falls. Salter weaves in multiple inter-related subplots involving the warden's family, a serial sex offender who the warden vows to protect from prison violence, and Michael's own issues with the loss of independence that a permanent relationship with a man and another with her baby have to represent. Highly enjoyable--I couldn't put it down.

When I bought this book I hoped that it would manage to be as good as Salter's previous Michael Stone mysteries, "Shiny Water," "Fault Lines," and "White Lies." After starting it on the train home from work I found myself unable to put "Prison Blues" down. This new novel takes Dr. Stone to a new level, both personally and professionally. The beauty of this novel lies in the way the different plots and subplots are entwined. This results in an break-neck pace that keeps you reading from first page to last. When Dr. Stone is contacted by an old friend to take over a prison therapy group, the 8-months pregnant Stone agrees. Little does she realize that she will end up investigating a murder, an attempted murder, and a drug ring. In her personal life, Stone has to deal with her own adverse reaction to her impending motherhood and her boyfriend Adam's "overprotectiveness". And of course, no Michael Stone novel would be complete without havoc caused by her indomitable mother. This storyline makes for a fascinating look at the life of a forensic psychologist. This novel rings true as something that could only have been written by an expert. I loved it and cannot wait for the next one.