Speak Ill of the Living

By Mark Arsenault

      Banker Roger Lime was murdered, victim of a car jacking, and his cremated remains buried. Now a photograph of him, alive, holding a current newspaper, is sent by kidnappers with a demand for ransom. If Lime is alive, whose ashes were buried in his grave?

   Freelance reporter Eddie Bourque is given the story. While he is pursuing it, he receives a letter from his brother Henry, who offers a clue to the mystery. Eddie doesn't know his brother. He was born after Henry was given life imprisonment for killing two guards in a bank robbery. Eddie goes to Henry in prison, where Henry steers him to the kidnappers. In the meantime, Henry's wife Bobbi, who married him in prison, appears on the scene demanding that Eddie convince Henry to ask for a new trial because the coroner compromised the DNA evidence. Eddie is on the trail of the truth, but each time he comes close to finding it, someone kills his source. In his pursuit of the truth about Lime and about his brother's past crime, Eddie finds his own life in jeopardy. Only when he can put the pieces together will he find the truth.

     This is an exciting novel, full of high tension and suspense. There are entertaining parts with Eddie's relationship with his cat, General VonKatz. Eddie is an enterprising man on a caffeine high, caused by his love for exotic coffee blends. The story is well plotted, full of twists and turns, with a surprising ending.