Ken Gruebel Column: Forensic pathology in search of the truth

A Hard Death, by Jonathan Hayes,  Harper Collins, 413pp, $25.99

Well, once more we are back in the grip of murders most foul with a forensic pathologist in full pursuit. Well, perhaps not in full pursuit. There are extenuating circumstances that have lead Edward Jenner to the coast of Florida to replace an old friend of his in Douglish County.

One of these circumstances is that he has lost his New York license because of a ratings-seeking news woman named Amanda Tucker. She pilloried him on her television show without mercy for some infraction she thought he may have committed.

In arriving in Florida, Jenner finds that his friend, whom he was to replace, has been found dead in a coastal swamp. There are circumstances that lead many to believe the dead man was involved in something shady.

The local police and the local sheriff are defensive and very cool to Jenner taking over the office of the medical examiner. There are only a few people who show any kindness. One is the wealthy Mr. Craine who lives on a huge estate and gives away money as if he had a printing press in the basement. The other person is Craine’s daughter, Maggie, a rather spoiled young woman who openly makes a play for Jenner, arriving at his motel room late one evening and leaving the next morning.

The pace of this novel can be slow at times. There are interruptions when Jenner is ruminating or explaining how he does some medical or forensic procedure. These tend to be more than I really want to know about forensic pathology, having seen more than enough of bodies being carved in the three or four shows on television about crime scene investigation.

Ah, but there are some redeeming sections. The interplay between a local policeman and a park ranger is rather well handled, I thought. Some of the action scenes tend to be interesting. Perhaps most spine chilling is the woman trying to escape in one of the many swamps and finding herself in a nest of snakes. Even sitting in the warm sunlight while reading this section I could feel a shiver of chills. A well done section.

Well to tell you more would spoil the story for you. The author, Jonathan Hayes is a bona fide forensic pathologist. I guess we can pretty well believe the sequences involving investigation.

Incidentally, for the sharp eyed reader the ending will come as no surprise. Liberal clues are scattered throughout the text and one is able to separate the good guys from the villains. Even I was able to figure it all out before the ending.

If tales of forensic pathology are of interest to you, this is a good one.

On another note I mentioned in my last outing that Mrs. Reviewer and I had been traveling with a trunk full of paperback books.

One of these books is a golden oldie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Now the hero of this story is a New York City detective named Michael Bennett. The title is STEP ON A CRACK , Hachette Book Group, 373 pp. $9.99.

This is not a new book, it was first published in 2007, but it is a good book. I had not read the hardcover version and wish that I had, only because it would have increased my admiration for this author.

Michael Bennet is struggling. His wife is in the hospital with what appears to be terminal cancer. He and his wife had adopted ten orphans and are raising them with love. The sections dealing with the children are heart warming indeed.

However Bennett is not only a detective, he is also one of the best hostage negotiators in the police department. Now all his skills will be called on as he tries to negotiate the release of a cathedral full of celebrities. Twelve or fourteen well armed men have captured many of the nation’s celebrities as they attended a funeral for a former first lady.

Negotiations drag on into the night. The kidnappers demand an enormous amount of money and the police want to make sure the hostages get released, even if the ransoms are paid.

Let me tell you right out that I could not put this book down. I know the plotting was a bit out of the ordinary, I don’t think anyone has had to nerve to kidnap a whole cathedral full of celebrities. I really don’t know how the police would respond to this kind of crime. I only know this, once I started on this book I was into it every waking moment.

The ending is pure drama. There is a kind of an epilogue that is very touching.

And no, you can’t have my copy. I may want to read it again.