Book Review: First Light

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

First Light     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Philip R. Craig , William G. Tapply
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Brady Coyne / J. W. Jackson # 1
Scribner, Dec 2001, $24.00, 352 pp.

Attorney Brady Coyne is driving from Boston to Martha's Vineyard to combine pleasure with business. Brady plans to spend some time with close friend and sleuth J.W. Jackson while also finalizing the will of the dying Sarah Fairchild. Brady and JW plan to spend as much time fishing together as possible so they really want to ignore the plea of local resident James Bannerman whose wife Katherine is missing.

However, though Brady has plenty to do between fishing and handling the Fairchild estate, Zee, the wife of JW, decides to arrange a date between their friend and Sarah's nurse Molly Wood. When Molly fails to show up for the date, Zee believes something catastrophic had to occur. She persuades her spouse and Brady to look into the matter. Though both are reluctant to investigate they compare notes and soon realize the eerie similarities between Molly and Katherine and start following the clues.

The collaboration between William G Tapply & Philip R Craig is fun to follow as each one's sleuth takes turns telling the story. The lead detectives keep their own personalities from their own respective series yet their friendship rings genuine. The who-done-it is not as intense as other tales in these series because the investigators would rather go fishing and it shows Still FIRST LIGHT contains a special charm because of the camaraderie between the two stars.

Harriet Klausner

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