2 out of 4 stars
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If a person you used to admire and work with calls you out of nowhere, sounding desperate and afraid, would you believe that his death was a suicide? I didn't think so.
Veterans Day by J. J. Jorgens is a murder mystery novel about the plight of American veterans and the death of one veteran in particular. Mary Jane's former mentor and business partner, Davy, called her to make sure that she discovered his body. Was she chosen because she was a superb private detective, they were close, or he knew her well enough to know that she was persistent and willing to color outside the legal lines to arrive at the truth? All of the above, it seems.
At first glance, the scene looked like a suicide, even the lead investigator Larson and forensic scientist Antonia said so. All three of them, Mary Jane included, privately admit, upon closer inspection, that the details point to a murder. However, since Larson and Antonia have clammed up and are no longer enthusiastically pursuing the case, it is up to Mary Jane to investigate on her own.
As she digs deeper, it becomes obvious to her why the case was put in the back burner. Larson and Antonia risk their jobs and safety because top government officials and business owners are involved, including the mayor, the head of Veterans Affairs, the chief of police, plus real estate and contractor executives. Mary Jane's other friends and loved ones, including her Land Rover and her dogs, are also put in danger as they help her.
There is a lot of dry humor in the novel. My favorites are, "I took my coffee out on the porch to make sure that the river was still there", "They arrested my computer and my cellphone too, but I don't think they read them their rights," and "Upgrades were announced for the homeless vets hotline and website, helpful I imagine for all those vets sleeping under bridges who have smart phones and computers." The situations where Mary Jane disguised herself to investigate her suspects were hilarious.
I also liked the teaching moments and insights. The novel takes time to use different characters to show the plight of veterans and open other people's eyes to the sad situations that most of them are in, behind the platitudes of government press releases. The characters are complex and layered. There are different types of people in this book - good people, bad people, and good people who can compromise or play the game so they could win for their cause.
Plot-wise, the novel is not an adrenaline-filled fast-paced thriller. Mary Jane herself warns us at least twice that detective work is slow, plodding work in pursuit of leads which may not pan out. While there are a couple of minor typos that do not detract from the meaning, like saying "coy" instead of "koi" or "wonton" instead of "wanton", there are swaths of the book that should have been cut to improve the pace. In series procedurals, whether on tv or in books, there is benefit to adding personal details about the lead character and their gang so that we can root for them and fear for them when they are in danger. It's typically 80% about the crime and 20% about the recurring characters. In this book, it was 50/50. One example to illustrate something should suffice. To show her relationship with her boyfriend and their selflessness, either the Thanksgiving or the Christmas stories could be told, not both. The trivia contest and the bit about her website were extraneous. To illustrate how complications can pile up on seemingly simple things, the Land Rover story was enough, there was no need to include the pond story. The aftereffects of a harrowing incident can be either her getting sick or the dog dying; if both, then just a side mention will do, not a long exposition.
Since a lot of the novel's real estate was spent on these superfluous things, there were some procedural details that I felt should have been expounded on, for example, it wasn't obvious how she figured out who the murderer was, very vital to the book. Also, how did she know that Dark Side was a hacker? It sounded like a mastermind's codename. I was also lost in that scene where they were making spoofed calls, from a kayak I thought, but then it was like they were at home. There were other continuity and cohesion issues, like saying "There must be an easier way to make a living," when the case was pro bono, or comments like it was bad for a detective to take it personally when it was established in the beginning that it was personal.
I chose to review this book because the bio was funny and showed that the author was very genuinely a crime mystery fan. It is for this reason that I have a higher expectation for somebody who has extensively read from the genre. I'm rating this novel 2 out of 4 stars because it is written like a family or personal drama and not like a thriller.
This book is not a to-go cup of coffee that you gulp quickly in the elevator while you rush to the office. It is a cup of tea that you sip slowly and savor the flavor while you put your feet up and enjoy the view.
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Veterans Day
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