Book Review: Catskills

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Catskills     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
John R. Hayes
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Dunne, Sep 2001, 256 pp.

Being the patriarch of his family, Martin Collins inherits the title Judge from his deceased father and his grandfather before that. Over the years, Martin had a good life until at the age of sixty-eight the stock market crash of ’29 left him fiscally crippled. He fled Manhattan for his long time summer home in Fredericktown in the Catskill Mountains.

In 1938, deputy sheriff Potter Washington and Martin’s two grandsons Robert and Ted systematically fire six bullets each at a farmhouse containing over fifty Jews. Potter wants to drive the lower class "Kikes" out of his area by scaring them but has no plans of hurting anyone. However, something goes wrong and Potter learns that his cousin Marjorie Bingham was killed during the assault. Sheriff Evans quickly learns that the murder of Marjorie was an inside job camouflaged by the outside onslaught. He and the Judge begin an investigation to learn who killed the victim and who attacked the Jews.

CATSKILLS starts slowly as author John R Hayes tries to establish the credentials of Martin through the history of his ancestors though why is hard to say. However, once the Potter led assailing occurs, the combination police procedural-amateur sleuth story line picks up at rapid speed and never slows down for a paragraph. The tale provides intense insight into the resort area during a period of change while not neglecting the who-done-it. Fans of historical who-done-its will fully enjoy Mr. Hayes’ tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner