Shadows

THE SETUP Preservationist Kiki Courtelis attempts to enlist the help of the Miami Cold Case Squad to investigate the murder of Pierce Nolan in 1961--her purpose is to prevent the destruction of the historic Nolan home. They soon find the corpses of seven babies in the basement. In a second storyline, the case of the murder of detective Sam Stone's parents is reopenned. COMMENTS AND CAVEATS The novel opens with a teaser--a loathsome device intended to catch bookstore browsers with upfront action. The main effect of teasers is usually to confuse the reader. In this case, the teaser (a flashback to the murder of Nolan) might not be so objectionable since it quickly becomes relevant as the story develops. However, I find the teaser objectionable because it contains no information on the timeframe, location, nor identity of the characters, and is written in first person present tense in a highly melodramatic, almost gothic-romantic, style. The nominal first person narrator turns out to be an insignificant character--the only reason for the existence of the character is to justify the teaser. "The Shadows" is filled with marvelous characterizations of police-persons and their families, but the value of most of the characterization fails because I have a poor memory for names, and have difficulty distinguishing the various more-or-less interchangeable police-persons. TECHNICAL SNIPING Monk, aka Quaker, parakeets do NOT have yellow on their wings. Indeed, their name comes from their rather drab gray chests. "Yellow winged parakeets, also wild in South Florida, do have a small touch of yellow on their wings. In the South Florida area, there are no naturally beaches on the mainland suitable for seaturtles--so no seaturtles ever nested at "The Shadows", which appears to be based on "The Barnacle" which still exists. It is true that Miami was a much smaller city in 1960, but it was still a substantial city, with a population over million--you could not "drive across Dade County in 20 minutes any time of the day" Immokalee is NOT "West of Ocala". VERDICT One of the best Edna Buchanans, a very enjoyable read, filled with interesting characters, vivid descriptions, and a captivating plot.

Buchanan knows how to write an intreguing novel. It's fast paced and not too long. I've read every one of her books and she hasn't disappointed yet.

Buchanan, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, has woven the past and the present into multi-layered story with interesting characters, excellent dialogue and very good suspense. I was involved from the first sentence and didn't put it down until I'd read the last. Buchanan is an author who deserves much more attention than she receives. Her books aren't bloody, brutal or depressing; they are human, captivating and always worth reading.

A wooden box of horrors - the bodies of babies - in an old rumrunner's cellar drives Buchanan's second "cold case squad" novel. Could the box be connected to the 1961 murder of the rumrunner's son, Pierce Nolan, one of Miami's most upstanding citizens? Shortly after the murder, the victim's family moved out, never to return. "The Shadows," as the mansion is called, was left to crumble and has just been sold to be razed for a fancy development. Meanwhile, Sam Stone investigates his parents' 15-year old murder and quickly discards the old robbery theory, while dredging up some very ugly not-so-ancient history. Buchanan continues to develop the members of her squad against the seamy, steamy Miami atmosphere and its tarnished history. A couple of new romances and a bit of family life round out an enjoyable read. - Portsmouth Herald

In Miami preservationist Kiki Courtelis visits the police department's Cold Case Squad to investigate the murder of 1950s city Mayor Pierce Nolan in front of his home in 1961. Kiki informs the cops that if they fail to act, the most famous unsolved case in the state will remain that way forever because developers have bulldozers ready to tear down Nolan's home the Shadows. She also admits that the Cold Case Squad is her last hope to save the elegant but abandoned 1920s style house from progress. Sergeant Burch reluctantly leads his team on a search of the premises, but is stunned when they find a box containing the remains of seven babies that died four decades ago. DNA testing proves that Pierce sired none of the infants. While much of the squad is morbidly fascinated with the infanticide, Police Officer Sam Stone works a more personal cold case, the murders of his parents in 1987. He is astonished to learn that the cop Ray Glover, who informed him and his grandmother that his parents were murdered, died not long afterward in an accident. Mindful in positive ways of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct, the two prime subplot cases never intersect yet both grips the audience for differing reasons. Readers like most of the cold case squad and the city will be ghoulishly mesmerized by the murders of the former mayor and the babies; on the other hand the audience and the city will empathize with Sam's need for closure as his inquiries lead towards a conspiratorial cover-up by Miamians, but who and why appears just out of reach. Edna Buchanan writes a terrific police procedural. Harriet Klausner