Book Review: Cripple Creek

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Cripple Creek     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
James Sallis
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Turner # 2
Walker, Apr 2006, $23.00, 208 pp.

Turner tries for what seems to him the umpteenth time to start over; this time he is a deputy sheriff in Cripple Creek, Tennessee. The small town near Memphis has little crime so he expects to “heal” again this time from the CYPRESS GROVE investigation.

However, perhaps Turner is a magnet for trouble as his boss Sheriff Don Lee arrests Judd Kurtz on a DUI charge only to find $200,000 in a gym bag hidden in the trunk. Not waiting around, Kurtz with outsider muscle escapes from the Cripple Creek jail, leaving behind two critically wounded cops including Lee. Turner takes over and makes inquiries into Kurtz’s recent activities, which lead him to a coming home as he tracks Kurtz to organized crime centered in Memphis but moving concentrically out into the burbs.

This tense tale is surprisingly enlivened by the insight into Turner, his banjo-picking girlfriend Val, and the Cripple Creek community as readers will contrast the normalcy of everyday life and relationships vs. the investigation. The little things like misdemeanors seem like pebbles to boulders when compared to the Kurtz case. Even the wild twisted ending that fans will reread several times to insure they got it adds to the analogies that showcase James Sallis at his best with Turner’s second thriller.

Harriet Klausner

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