“Don’t Tell a Soul” by David Rosenfelt – a fun, fast mystery read
It’s New Year’s Eve and three friends are whooping it up in a local bar in their New Jersey hometown – well, two of them are anyhow. Tim Wallace is a reluctant celebrant. His wife died in a boating accident and he is still struggling to come to terms with his lost. Tim is standing at the bar, minding his own business when a man walks up and calmly tells him that he killed a woman, cut off her finger and buried her. Then he tells Tim, “Now it’s your problem,” and he walks away.
Tim is unsure what to do. The cops are positive he murdered his wife in the accident, but he’s never been charged because there was no apparent motive and they don’t have enough evidence. Tim does the right thing and tells the cops about the man in the bar – now Novack, the lead detective thinks Tim is one sick puppy and possibility a serial killer. Things keep going from bad, to worse to downright horrible in Tim’s life. The cops find a woman’s body – missing its finger and now are really after TIm. Rosenblet writes in short quick chapters that keep the action moving. There are many disparate events that occur that seem to have nothing to do with Tim – but they do. In the end, just about everything comes together in an exciting if a bit forced ending.
“Don’t Tell a Soul” is one of those fast-paced books you simply can’t put down. I confess, I read it basically in one sitting. As an author, it’s the kind of book I want to write myself. You put your character in trouble and just keep making things worse for the poor sap. I liked “Don’t Tell a Soul” a lot but there were a few plot holes that still have me scratching my head. It’s almost as if the author forgot about those pesky details – but I didn’t. All in all, a good read and I recommend it.
Be sure to watch for my own novel coming out 8/1/09 – “Call Sign: Love” Watch for further details here.
Tags: dogs, fun fast read, good mystery, puzzle