Book Review: Some Welcome Home

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Some Welcome Home     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Sharon Wildwind
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Military   Woman Main Character   Vietnam or Vietnam Vet   Police Procedural   Historical
Series: Elizabeth Pepperhawk / Avivah Rosen
Five Star, Feb 2005, $25.95, 328 pp.

Nurse Corps Captain Elizabeth Pepperhawk has returned to the states after a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Her latest assignment is at Fort Bragg where she will head up a wing at Womack Army Hospital. However, her stay in guest quarters is SOME WELCOME HOME when she finds a corpse wearing a World War II uniform inside her room. She calls the MPs who inform the Criminal Investigation Division of a possible homicide. All military law enforcement is jittery as the MacDonald fiasco still lingers here at Bragg. MP Captain Avivah Rosen and CID Captain Delaney arrive with other military police.

The case takes a surprise spin when the victim turns out to be Dermid Hagan, who officially died in Nam two years ago. As Avivah and Elizabeth become friends and neighbors along with a third compatriot Benny Kirkpatrick, each has a personal problem to cope with. Elizabeth begins digging into what happened finding a tenuous link to the hospital; this endangers her, her friends, and others from a trained killer who will murder to keep secrets hidden.

This is a superb historical military police procedural that grips the audience from the moment Elizabeth finds a body in her room and never slows down until the final good-byes. Besides a strong murder mystery, the tale provides insight into the minds of career officers struggling at a time when the Viet Nam War has begun to look helpless with no exit strategy (sound familiar?). The key to the tale is three buddies and the support cast that sheds more light on three protagonists. They provide an insightful look 1971 military life inside a terrific who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

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