THE FITZGERALD RUSE: A SAM BLACKMAN MYSTERY

THE FITZGERALD RUSE: A SAM BLACKMAN MYSTERY
Author: Mark de Castrique
Poisoned Pen Press
August 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59058-629-7
Hardcover
$24.95
254 pages
Fiction, Mystery

Sam Blackman lost a leg in Iraq. When he returned, his parents were killed in an automobile accident leaving him wealthy. He quickly opens an account in the Cayman Islands, but allows himself adequate money to live. He also decides to open his own detective agency with his partner and love, Nakayla Robertson.

Their first case for the agency is a little unusual. Sam is called to visit a retirement community where a little old lady hires him to retrieve a box from her safety deposit box at the bank. She gives him the key and the password. Sam has no problem with this task but is curious about the swastika in the top of the box. He hides the box in his office.

Sam immediately realizes this might be more complicated when the night guard is murdered in his office and the box is missing. When his client is also murdered, Sam and Nakayla have a struggle balancing the investigation and staying alive. What could possibly combine the Nazis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the theft of Iraqi antiquities?

The historical part of North Carolina and the sympathetic Nazi supporters was fascinating and based upon real events and William Dudley Pelley who was the founder of the Silver Legion which was an anti-Semitic organization. What happened to all those who were a part of this organization? How did this fit with the story?

This story is well-written and the action keeps pace with the development. It keeps you wondering until the last page. The difficulty I had was that you really need to read the previous novel, BLACKMAN’S COFFIN, for the character development for both Sam and Nakayla and their relationship.

Besides this book and the one mentioned above, Mark de Castrique has also written DANGEROUS UNDERTAKING, FOOLISH UNDERTAKING, GRAVE UNDERTAKING, and FINAL UNDERTAKING. He has also worked in the television and film production industry and now is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

This is one of those novels that the story is so strong, you don’t even notice how many pages you are reading. The story keeps you wondering how this can possibly logically conclude. I look forward to reading more books by Mark de Castrique.









Teri Davis August 14, 2009

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