Crazy Eights
Elizabeth Gunn
Forge, Mar 2005, $23.95, 272 pp.
ISBN: 0765308061

Rutherford, Minnesota Chief of Detectives Captain Jake Hines watches the trial of Benny Niemeyer, accused of carjacking, kidnapping, and killing Shelley Gleason. Benny's partner Dale Trogstad was already found guilty of the crimes. Benny informed the police where they could find the corpse, but that information is not admissible as evidence due to a technicality. There is no other link connecting Benny to the murder and the witness who put away Dale is missing. Not surprisingly, the jury states "not guilty".

The next day a freed Benny is dead; the medical examiner declares he was murdered. Although Jake wanted this vermin put away for life and commiserates with the killer, he searches for the culprit. His inquiries lead to the town's richest family who has done so much for the community.

This author is a top Gunn when it comes to providing some of the best police procedurals on the market today. There is enough romance in CRAZY EIGHTS to satisfy fans of that genre, but it is clearly the investigation that readers will appreciate. The storyline is brilliantly filled with false leads, red herrings, and misinformation that take the audience down wrong trails (sounds like the political parties). Readers will like the ethical Jake, a mixed racial person who usually ignores the ignorance of racists; the news from his live-in lover sets up a freshness for his next appearance and giving his fans plenty to look forward to.

Harriet Klausner