Rainy North Woods

It's one of truisms of the newspaper business that every reporter has an unfinished novel sitting in his bottom desk drawer. Fortunately for lovers of good storytelling, the late Vince Kohler finished his--and three more besides. "Rainy North Woods" is the introductory volume in his series of Eldon Larkin mysteries.Eldon Larkin isn't your typical mystery novel hero. He's a reporter for a small daily newspaper on the Oregon Coast, "The South Coast Sun," and he dreams more about finding a girlfriend and a car he can rely on than unraveling a big mystery. But when you have a circus elephant stomping a hapless Vietnamese immigrant to death, sightings of Bigfoot and UFOs, and an old-timer of an editor obsessed with "good copy!" what's a reporter going to do? Call the Enquirer? Not on your life! This is literate, witty, humorous story-telling at its best, capturing the true flavor of the craziness that often seeps into these "Rainy North Woods." I'm grateful Vince Kohler gave us this wonderful book, and three more...and just sorry he left us too soon. Look up a copy. You won't be disappointed!

It is funny and it is as well written as any mystery I have read. If he keeps this up he will join an elite group of top writers such as Parker, Woods, Hillerman. Dudley Hafner