Rick Shefchik, Amen Corner

Amen Corner

Rick Shefchik

Poisoned Pen, March 2007, $24.95, 332 pp.

ISBN: 1590584112

On medical leave recovering from a gunshot to the knee two years ago that required surgery, Minneapolis Police Detective Sam Skarda played a lot of golf as rehab. Shockingly, last summer he won the US Public Links tournament. Thus he receives an invitation to play at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, while his former partner Stensrud tells him to decide whether he is a cop or not.

Also in Augusta is recently freed convict Lee Doggett, who, as he stepped out of prison, had no one waiting for him because the only person who cared, his mother, died while he was incarcerated. He blames his plight on his absentee biological father who never raised him.

On the tenth hole someone burned the words "THIS IS THE LAST MASTERS" next to the murdered corpse of Rules Committee Chair Harmon Ashby. Doggett learns he killed the wrong person as his target is his father Ralph Stanwick. The media blame a women's protest group and the police look at club members. New Chair David Porter hires Sam to quietly uncover the culprit before anyone else is aced especially on Sunday when the world watches events unfold at AMEN CORNER.

This sports mystery will be enjoyed more by golf aficionados than detective fans as the homage to the Masters is the prime theme of the eighteen holes. Readers know Doggett is the killer early on even before he confirms his identity when he watches CNN to learn he murdered the wrong balding sexagenarian white guy. Thus the suspense resides in the cat and mouse encounter between Doggett and Sam still a cop regardless of his doubts. This is an interesting thriller though cluttered with too many golfing and music references whether it is George Archer winning in 1969 paired with "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" or Billy Casper in 1970 teamed with "Bridge Over Troubled Waters", etc.

Harriet Klausner