Terry Hoover, Double Dead

Double Dead

Terry Hoover

Five Star, January 2007, $25.95

ISBN: 1594145873

In 1961 Charlotte, North Carolina, defense attorney George Warren hires former reporter turned private sleuth Steve Harlan to help him with his case, defending his client State Mutual Bank President John Lattimore, accused of killing his mistress Delores Green. Lattimore confessed to bringing home the corpse of Delores, but insists he did not kill her. He also admits that he bullied her thirteen year old son Greg to cover for him. The Medical Examiner states that a homicide occurred, as the victim had over two hundred bruises on her body.

Having lost his father when he was ten, Steve detests Lattimore for his treatment of Greg, but conducts his inquiries in a professional manner. His best witness to affirm Lattimore's contention that Delores had the bruises two days before she died, auto mechanic Jack Cotter vanished. Her friends paint a diverse picture of her, as one insists she abused alcohol, while another insisted she detested alcohol and drugs. As Steve digs deeper, someone threatens his beloved wife Susie and their two preadolescent children, in order to force him to back off from learning the truth.

This is an enjoyable historical legal thriller, with much of the storyline focusing in on Steve's investigation. Like Steve, readers will wonder why Lattimore moved the body and put undue pressure on a young teen. All that accomplished was to make him look more guilty. Readers will enjoy the hero as he overcomes his gut loathing of Lattimore to uncover the truth behind the death of the rich man's mistress.