The Prairie Grass Murders

This is an excellant first mystery novel by a new author. The plot moves quickly within interesting twists & turns. I think she has set this for a series of books with an interesting set of key characters.

Reviewed by Patti Yackulic for Reader Views (6/07) Far too often readers of any genre become so attached to specific authors that they fail to notice up-and-coming authors who have incredible talent. Patricia Stoltey is one such who-done-it author, not to be dismissed. When Willie Thorn embarked on a solo trek back to his childhood farm in Illinois, no one could possibly have predicted the impact that such a venture would have on both him and his sister, Palm-Beach-County-Florida-circuit court-judge Sylvia Thorn. Instead of Willie's opportune encounter with a police officer, shortly after Willie stumbled across the dead remains of a male human, initiating a murder investigation, Willie (a Vietnam veteran discharged on medical grounds) is considered a delusional vagrant. Sylvia, coming to his aid, embroils the siblings in further intrigue, intrigue which not only spans the pairs' time in Illinois, but follows them back to Florida. Patricia Stoltey masterly commands her readers' attention for each of page of her novel. Each attempt the reader devises to determine the culprit results in failure as Stoltey pens a new twist. Each twist elevates the readers' curiosity and determination to solve the mystery. As the climax nears, readers are at a loss to predict Stoltey's resolution, a resolution so clever that readers are left satisfied. Far too often, I've been entertained by a mystery, which has been well-developed, only to be disappointed with an inadequate ending. As I was captivated with Stoltey's twists and turns, I became concerned that I would, once again, feel unsettled as I closed the novel for the final time. Instead, Stoltey's meticulous attention to detail, combined with her intricate plot development, ensured that I, and every other reader, would experience closure to her tale. I'm confident that "The Prairie Grass Murders" will generate equivalent success in the novel domain as Stoltey has experienced in the short story genre. I, for one, anxiously await her next installment.

Palm Beach County, Florida Circuit Judge Sylvia Thorn takes a leave of absence when her brother Willie Grisseljon calls that he has been incarcerated in an Illinois psychiatric ward of a hospital. Willie, a Viet Nam vet, who came home from the war with some mental issues, was vacationing by walking around where he and his sister grew up when Deputy Sheriff Morris took him to the hospital while keeping his identification. Willie tells his sister upon her arrival that he found a corpse while hiking before he was busted. Sylvia and Willie go to the locale only to have Morris send them away. This time they visit Sheriff Trace Parker, Sylvia's high school sweetheart, who they take to the crime scene where the body of farm manager Clay Taylor is found. As Willie does his odd investigation based on people observations and Trace does the official inquiry, Sylvia is caught in between both as she is in the wrong place at the wrong time when a second homicide occurs. Willie is a unique protagonist whose way of seeing things turns the PRAIRIE GRASS MURDERERS into a wonderful whodunit. Sylvia serves as the solid lead player who along with Clay works the crime from a more standard procedure. The murder mystery is clever and the second chance romance deftly handled, but the freshness resides with fascinating Willie.

"At the edge of the pile, near the ground, a black shape poked through the green and brown vegetation. Willie ignored the buzzard and climbed further up the bank to get a better look. He finds a shoe, a man's black leather shoe!" Willie, our protagonist's brother, visiting near his home town in Illinois for a vacation, is taken by a deputy to a mental hospital for evaluation after Willie finds a dead body. He calls his sister, Circuit Judge Sylvia Thorn, in Florida, who immediately flies to Illinois to aid her brother and to find out what has occurred. She arrives to find, what looks like a cover-up by a deputy in the sheriff's department. Willie is released from the hospital and when he and his sister return to the original location, they are unable to find the body in the newly plowed under soil. She appeals to the sheriff, only to find out that he is an old crush from her high school days, which adds to her tension and excitement. He promises to investigate his deputy, the missing body and keep her and her brother posted. What transpires is a series of events to keep you very eager to read what might happen next. They discover that there is a missing businessman who was involved in property sales in the area--and they put two and two together. What follows is a stimulating story that contains kidnapping, shots fired, assaults and the discovery that the sheriff is not all that he should be. The author's first book is an enjoyable, challenging, topical novel. Although you might have figured out early who the evildoers are, you will, no doubt, continue on to discover the real purpose behind the crimes committed. Patricia Stoltey's book is an enjoyable tale of intended land-grabs, murder and intrigue, and, perhaps, a pleasant diversion from you own trials and tribulations.