Book Review: Stone Quarry

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Stone Quarry     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
S. J. Rozan
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator
Series: Lydia Chin / Bill Smith # 6
St. Martin's, Sep 1999, $23.95, 288 pp.

For years when his brain needed cleansing, private investigator Bill Smith left Manhattan to hunt near the upstate community of Scoharie, an isolated area. When bar owner Tony Antonelli gets into a brawl with mobster Frank Grice, Bill intercedes. The next day, local farmer Eve Colgate reveals to Bill that she is also the internationally renowned landscape artist Eva Nouvel. Thirty years ago, a drunk Eva crashed her car, killing her husband. She fled to the upstate county to paint and farm in quiet. Someone stole the work she first performed just after moving to Scoharie. Those pictures are of poor quality, but if sold would reveal her secret identity. She wants them back without a fuss.

Later that same day, Bill finds the murdered corpse of a thug in the basement of Antonelli's Bar. Sheriff Brinkman, who holds a grudge against Bill, is the first cop to arrive on the scene. Without any evidence, Brinkman concludes either the sleuth, Tony, or Tony's brother are the killer. Bill now has two cases to investigate with the help of his sometime partner Lydia Chin.

STONE QUARRY, the sixth Bill Smith tale, is an appealing story that reveals a different side of the private investigator. Bill retains the vigor readers saw in his previous engagement, A BITTER FEAST. The support cast, mostly upstate New Yorkers, add a feel to the plot that propels the novel. They provide a regional setting that takes the star from his normal urban environment. The two subplots cleverly intertwine into a fabulous story line, showing how incidents lead to other events. With her latest novel, S.J. Rozan provides readers with another movable feast.

Harriet Klausner

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