Fisherman's Bend
Linda Greenlaw
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
Linda Greenlaw has written her second entry into her Jane Bunker
mysteries with this follow up to the debut, Slipknot.
Fisherman Bend continues with Jane Bunker, a woman who left the tension
and horrors of her life as a Miami detective to find a quiet life on
the coast of Maine. A job as an insurance investigator should be much
less stressful than that of a homicide detective; the fishing lanes
should be much more peaceful than the streets of Miami. But this does
not seem to be true. When out on the ocean checking on some demolished
equipment on a research vessel they come across a boat with no one
aboard, a sure sign of possible tragedy for some fisherman. The missing
man's family is also preparing to bury his son the next day, a victim
of a heroin overdose. Jane is shocked to hear that the drug culture she
thought she left behind is alive and well in this small town. She finds
not everyone is as they seem and the dark waters run deep in this
coastal mystery. Determining a crime involved with the lost
fisherman or just a sad accident becomes Jane's next challenge.
The strength of this book is the setting. Greenlaw is able to carry the
story with the insider information of the fishing industry in Maine,
its tensions and politics. While at times the mystery itself and Jane's
actions seem a bit uneven, it is balanced by the power of the setting.
The character of Jane is nicely developing. She is a tough law enforcer
with a yearning for a man and a place to belong. The secondary
characters such as the pierced, dyed waitress Audrey and the taciturn
Mainer, Cal, add greatly to the color of the tale. Her landlords,
theVickersons, are a welcome comedic touch. The action leads to an
ending that is not unexpected and a bit abrupt. Another chapter
wrapping up the tstoryline would have been a good addition.
It will be interesting to read the next entry into the series as
Greenlaw continues to find her own voice in the fiction field of
fiction and mysteries.