Solitude Creek by Jeffery Deaver

Published by Grand Central Publishing on May 12, 2015

I generally like Jeffery Deaver, but he didn't sell me on the plot in Solitude Creek. Even if had not been contrived and implausible, it would not have been interesting. Admittedly, I approached this book with reservations, given my sense that Kathryn Dance, the fictional "body language expert" who works for the California Bureau of Investigation, is Deaver's least interesting character. Stories based on pseudo-voodoo like profiling and body language are too gimmicky for my taste. I am more tolerant of gimmicks when they don't get in the way of a good crime story, but the story here lacks originality.

Dance is working on the "drugs and guns pipeline" between Oakland and Mexico when, after apparently being fooled by a High Machiavellian (i.e., a really good liar), she is demoted to civil investigations. The pipeline reenters the story from time to time and eventually reaches a formulaic outcome (although with a mild twist that holds the novel's only real surprise). Meanwhile, Dance is assigned to check out the insurance coverage for a Monterey roadhouse called Solitude Creek after a fire produces a deadly stampede. Dance quickly realizes that the circumstances of the fire are suspicious -- not in the sense of insurance fraud, but in the sense of a deliberate attempt to induce panic.

The bad guy Dance is chasing explains that he is exploiting fundamental fears (primarily confinement and claustrophobia) to satisfy a compulsion that he calls "the Get." There is little to distinguish him from thousands of other crime novel villains who are driven by compulsion. His obsession with the "brilliant" and "captivating" Kathryn Dance after glimpsing her from afar is hard to swallow. In fact, not much about the bad guy is believable. His second motive to commit the crimes (apart from enjoyment) is spectacularly silly.

A subplot involving racist graffiti also seems contrived and improbable -- contrived in the way it comes back to connect with Dance and improbable in the sense that CBI is unlikely to devote so much effort to a property crime (even one that is classified as a hate crime) when a crazy man is committing acts that maim and kill dozens of people at a time in Southern California. True, the graffiti victims own expensive houses and are therefore likely to command the attention of the state's top cops, but no law enforcement agency would misplace its priorities in the way that Deaver imagines.

Too much of Solitude Creek feels like unnecessary padding. Deaver is particularly fond of describing footwear. Historical references to incidents of mass panic are only slightly more interesting. Dance's personal dilemmas (should she pick Jon or Michael?) do little to enliven her dull personality. Dance is always nattering on about her ability to recognize that someone is lying (it turns out that pretty much everything you say or do is proof that you are telling a lie). The best character development is reserved for Dance's messed up son, although his plot thread resolves in a way that is just as unbelievable as the rest of the novel. Her daughter's issues are just dull.

I never have a problem with Deaver's prose or with his ability to keep readers involved in the story's progress, but Solitude Creek seems to have been written on auto-pilot. Most of the novel proceeds at a good pace but it drags at points. Solitude Creek is a disappointing effort from a strong writer.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Bibliomysteries by Jeffery Deaver and Anne Perry

MysteriousPress.com is publishing (in digital form) a series of stand-alone mystery stories by popular crime authors in which books, bookstores, libraries, or manuscripts play a central role.  I don't usually review individual short stories, but I'm making an exception for the Bibliomystery series because the concept is interesting and the authors are well known.  Four stories have been published to date.  These are the two I've read.

"An Acceptable Sacrifice" by Jeffery Deaver was published on November 12, 2012

A joint operation sanctioned by Mexico City and Washington, D.C., pairs P.Z. Evans with Alejo Diaz, two killers hired to take out Alonso "Cuchillo" Carillo, presumed leader of the Hermosillo Cartel. According to an informant, in two days the cartel will set fire to a bus full of tourists to protest Mexico's war against drugs. Why Cuchillo doesn't pursue the time-honored defense against such wars -- paying off the federales -- is unclear, but the story requires the reader to accept the unlikely premise that blowing up tourists has something to do with the drug trade. A more intriguing question is whether Cuchillo really is a cartel leader, as opposed to a legitimate businessman. As is so often the case, the intelligence pointing to Cuchillo's guilt might be faulty.

Since Cuchillo allegedly intends to remain in his compound until the bus is in flames, Evans and Diaz must find a way to gain entrance. Fortunately for them, Cuchillo collects first editions and rare books, a "weakness" that the killers hope to turn to their advantage. On the other hand, Diaz wonders whether such a pleasant book lover could really be a ruthless killer. What if they are assassinating the wrong man? Unfortunately, that question fades into the background as the story advances.

Point of view shifts from Evans and Diaz to their employers in D.C. to Cuchillo, giving the reader a variety of perspectives as the relatively simple plot unfolds. "An Acceptable Sacrifice" works because the characters are engaging, the dialog is amusing, the atmosphere is convincing, and the story moves quickly. The story's theme gives Cuchillo a chance to explore the relative merits of literature and crime fiction (not surprisingly, he extols the craftsmanship of popular novelists over the "pretentious artifice" of "so-called literary writers"). A couple of cute twists lead the story to a satisfying resolution. It's a bit disappointing that Jeffery Deaver didn't flesh out the "drug lord versus legitimate businessman" theme in greater depth, but that's my only serious complaint about the story. This isn't great literature (which, I'm sure Deaver agrees, isn't always pretentious, despite the views expressed by Cuchillo), but it is a fun, well-crafted crime story.

RECOMMENDED

"The Scroll" by Anne Perry was published on November 12, 2012

In a crate of old books purchased from an estate, Monty Danforth finds a scroll written in Aramaic. The writing on the scroll does not reproduce on the photocopies he tries to make or on the digital photographs he tries to take. Soon three bidders show up -- a scholar, a bishop, and an old man accompanied by a little girl -- seeking to buy the scroll and issuing dire warnings about its evil nature. Danforth decides it is time to consult his employer, the bookshop's owner, who has been home ill for a few days, but discovers that the owner has died in a fire. Now the decision to sell the scroll is Danforth's responsibility, but how can he decide which buyer deserves to have it?

The theme of "The Scroll" is a familiar one: Will an ancient scroll undermine fundamental teachings of Christianity and, if so, will the church destroy it to preserve its myths? This leads to a correlative question: Does Danforth have the right to decide whether the scroll should be published, potentially undermining the faith of millions, or suppressed, potentially depriving the world of a vital truth? Notwithstanding the story's familiarity, Anne Perry gives it a fresh twist as the reader is left to ponder the identity of the strange little girl and her relationship with the old man. Perry's writing is evocative but the ending, after such an interesting setup, is disappointingly convenient.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS