Sleuth Slayer

When his friend and colleague, P. Jax Thornton III, alerts him to a recent series of murders of noted mystery authors, Guy Davitt, a mystery author himself, is hardly alarmed. The apparent circumstances surrounding the deaths are hardly suspicious; in fact, the alcohol poisoning of one - who just happened to be an alcoholic - was, well, expected. Despite Jax's spiked paranoia surrounding the murders, Davitt brushes his concerns aside with glib indifference. That is, until Jax himself dies suddenly in a horrific car crash; then, upon closer inspection of what appears to be a tragic accident, Davitt begins to notice intriguing signs of foul play. As a result, in typical "inquisitive author" fashion, he begins to ponder the true motives behind Jax's death, as well as the other authors who were recently slain. As he launches his own personal investigation, Davitt soon comes to the grim realization that the murders have all been lifted straight from the pages of mystery novels, info that serves as both a blessing and a curse for him as he sloshes through the unsavory worlds of privileged entitlement, business politics, and police corruption in his quest for truth and ultimate justice. Most disturbing of all, though, is Davitt's startling realization that his time to solve the case is severely limited by none other than the fact that his own name appears on the killer's list...if ever he needed his "writer's instincts" to kick in, there's no better time than the present. Sleuth Slayer is an enjoyable read crafted by the superbly creative father-and-son writing team of Bruce & Jeffrey Burton. A thoroughly well-written tale of suspenseful intrigue, the Burtons' engaging story is both intricately crafted and masterfully executed. In addition, the sardonic wit laced throughout is a perfect counterbalance to the grimness of the subject and its often heavy emotional undertones, offsetting the overall pathos of the tale just enough. The true appeal of Sleuth Slayer, though, lies in the masterful way that the Burtons employ the tools of their chosen genre. By including a number of false starts and redirects, they ensure that the true identity of the killer remains a secret until the very end - and even then the reader is surprised to learn that the ultimate purpose of the murders is far from what you'd expect of a typical serial killer. Creatively inventive with tight prose and even tighter dialogue, Sleuth Slayer is a can't miss thriller-within-a-thriller. Highly recommended.

"Poetic injustice" is a term one could use. Mystery writers begin to turn up dead, and a mystery sits on who is responsible. "Sleuth Slayer" follows Guy Davitt, a lesser known mystery writer who notices the pattern of the mystery writers turning up dead from methods are pulled right out of their novels. Faced with the disbelief from law enforcement, and the entanglement of bureaucracy as he himself realizes that he may be a target, Guy must unravel the mystery before he joins his fellow practitioners of the mystery writing craft. "Sleuth Slayer" is a top pick for community library mystery collections and for mystery fans in general.

Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (3/08) "Diminutive, Yoda-faced P. Jax Thornton III sat on my sagging couch, nursed the tepid root beer I'd poured him, from what was maybe a halfway rinsed coffee mug with a busted handle that'd been turning into a Petri dish in my sink." It is 2:30 am and mystery writer Guy Davitt is awakened by a visit from fellow writer Jax who has concerns about the recent deaths of two other mystery authors. A month ago, Angus MacDougall was found dead with the cause of death determined to be alcohol poisoning. Just the day prior to Jax's visit, Alexandra Case was found dead due to smoke inhalation. Jax believes that these deaths are more than just a random coincidence. Although at the time Guy had dismissed Jax's suspicions, he soon found himself placing more value in his friend's beliefs. Shortly after their talk Jax was the victim of a fatal car crash on a twisting canyon road. Therefore, yet another mystery author was dead. After Guy pays his respects to the Thornton family, Jax's father tells him that he is welcome to clean out Jax's writing area and take whatever he wants. Guy uses this as an opportunity to see if he can find any evidence confirming Jax's suspicions that there is a mystery-writer serial-killer out there. To see what others think about the recent chain of events, Guy posts the information that he has in a mystery writers' chat room. In the numerous responses to his post, he receives a rather unusual comment from someone he does not know with the user name of "Scythe." "Scythe's" coded, chilling comment infers that Guy is going to be one of the next victims. Soon after, another writer, Frances Whiting, shows up on Guy's doorstep claiming that she too had almost been a murder victim as she was attacked on her yacht, but had escaped. Together they work to determine who is behind the serial slayings and to try to unravel the mystery. As you can see in the quote at the beginning of my review, Burton and Burton are very talented at writing descriptive passages. Whether I wanted to or not, I could vividly picture what was growing inside of that coffee mug. This skillful writing combined with a strong plot will have you turning the pages in anticipation of what is coming next. There are many twists and turns throughout the book and just when you think you have it all figured out you will be proven wrong. "Sleuth Slayer" is a fast-paced novel from start to finish with no dull moments in between. The writing is suspenseful and the characters are memorable. I think that any fan of the mystery genre will truly enjoy this book. I would love to see this novel become the beginning of a series and I look forward to reading more from the authors in the future.