A Clear Path to Cross by Ed Lynskey is a series of short stories detailing the professional and sometimes personal life of PI Sharon Knowles, who is definitely a welcome addition to the genre.

 

While I am unsure why the author has chosen to go the short story route for this book, especially considering the genre, I have to say that he manages to make it all work well together.

The strength of this book is definitely the main character Sharon Knowles, formerly a police officer, turned PI.  She is a wonderful mixture of tough and gritty and can definitely play with the big boys, but is also classy, smart and extremely intelligent.  I liked the combination immensely and this created  a very positive state of mind for me as I read through the stories.

As mentioned, it is my opinion that this type of book works better as a one storyline novel - I found it jarring, at times, to switch from one story to another - however, we do find most of the main characters in each of the individual short stories so there is a good deal of continuity.

Some of the stories were stronger than others although I did enjoy reading all of them. I must admit that a few had me completely baffled - which is what I like in my mysteries - I don't want to be figuring out the culprit/killer after the first paragraph.

Lynskey is very good at intertwining his characters in the storylines and he knows how to move a story along at a good pace.  Some of the dialogue felt a bit forced to me - as though he was trying to make some of his characters sound a little too sarcastic at times and this generally felt contrived to me  - but this is a minor point as I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

 

As for Sharon - what can I say - except WELCOME to the genre - she was truly the center of this book and I love reading the exploits of a strong, smart, yet feminine protagonist.

This book reminded me a little of a pulp fiction - mixed in with a good mystery.

Definitely a good read and enjoy!

(Author note: All but one of these early short stories appeared in the paper and online pulp venues including the notable HandHeldCrime, Orchard Press Mysteries, and Hardluck Stories )