Witness for the Dead

This is a wonderful book! Fredrickson pioneers a new genre of fiction- a combination of super crime novel and a guide to regional cusine, Sicilian, in this case. You can't think of this book without a reference to food, so I'd say it's like great meal with great company. The plot moves with balance and rhythm from course to course, never hurried, never dawdling. Fredrickson is as unusual a prose stylist as he is a plot designer and so the words themselves provide rich spectrum of textures, tastes, and humorous surprises. As for company, the key characters are literally unforgettable. Each is an interesting individual, yet recognizable as a participant in the rich anthropological stew that is modern Boston. You won't want to put it down, but you won't want it to end.Two final notes. One, this novel is a fictional treatment organized around a true story of FBI complicity in murder. Two, if you care about rescuing greyhounds, Fredrickson's Mavis is your Joan of Arc.