  Winner
of the 1996 Edgar Award for Best First
Mystery
Nominated for 1996 Shamus
Award for Best First Mystery
Twin
Cities gumshoe Holland Taylor is the first to be
called in for interrogation when a pivotal figure
from his past is found murdered - a man he once
threatened in front of a slew of witnesses.
Reluctantly taking on the case, Taylor follows a
trail that leads to the headquarters of
gubernatorial candidate Carol Catherine (C.C.)
Monroe. Beautiful and ambitious, C.C. has risen
swiftly, helped by the apparent hit-and-run death
of her opponent in a congressional race. Now she
stands to become Minnesota's first woman
governor.
But
C.C. has a secret. A former lover with a
compromising videotape is out to blackmail her.
When C.C. hires Taylor to retrieve the tape, he
finds a corpse three days dead in a thoroughly
ransacked apartment.
As
Taylor's investigations leads him deeper into the
tangled web of urban politics, he finds a curious
and furtive vulnerability in the candidate beneath
her assured, charismatic surface. And when a third
murder hits Taylor where it hurts, he becomes
committed to a violent course of action that leads
him toward an unexpected and decisive
confrontation.
Reviews
As
long as authors like David Housewright build first
novels as good as Edgar-winner Penance,
readers will come. It is a classic private eye
story, with lines which sum up the profession's
past... This is about as quotable a private eye
book as any in recent years. Taylor wisely observes
that "...it's a great time to be a private
investigator: Nobody trusts anybody." Echoing many
of the great eyes of the past, he gives his
personal philosophy, an admirable, if cynical one:
"I'm not sure I believe in much of anything. Like a
lot of people, I make it up as I go along. Mostly,
I guess it's a matter of what I can live with."
...in Taylor, Housewright provides a character
worth respecting.
--The Armchair Detective (Fall '96)
We're
perhaps off the standard private eye track with
Housewright's neat and twisty first novel, and it's
a step in a refreshing direction... The complex
plot machinations are reminiscent of Ross Thomas in
their sophistication, intelligence and guile...
this is a strong, satisfying first novel; it's
quick-pace and no-nonsense protagonist moves us
along smartly.
--The Drood Review of Mystery
...the
narrative with its settings (St. Paul) and diverse
array of characters has great appeal and an air of
freshness.... Housewright works it out marvelously
well. A second Taylor novel is on its way and to us
that's the best news of the month.
--Armchair Detective (Winter '97)
This
is a surprisingly accomplished first novel with a
likable everyman protagonist and a clever plot...
most readers will look forward to Taylor's next
case.
--Booklist
...impressive
tough guy sass... an intriguing, darkly pessimistic
take on American politics and media.
--Publisher's Weekly
Other books by David
Housewright
Jelly's Gold
Madman On A Drum
Dead Boyfriends
Pretty Girl Gone
Tin City
A Hard
Ticket Home
Practice
to Deceive
Dearly
Departed
Anthologies
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