The Marble Kite

Alex Rasmussen Mystery #4

by David Daniel

Private investigator Alex Rasmussen has loved carnivals since he was a boy, and what better way to enjoy one as a grown man than with a lovely woman at his side? As he and his date stroll along the midway, playing games of chance, the soft September night is torn by a scream. Rasmussen rushes to a nearby field to find a woman's body in the weeds.

One of the carnival workers---a man with trouble in his past and a motive for murder---is arrested and charged with the crime. The lawyer hired to defend him retains Rasmussen to investigate. The police are convinced they have a clear-cut case, but as Alex probes, he finds a trail as bewildering as a funhouse mirror maze.

An outsider to the close-knit "carnies," and shunned by the police department he once served, Rasmussen faces a client who refuses to talk, gangsters looking to exploit the carnival's troubles, a mob of citizens bent on rough justice, and an elusive killer who seems to anticipate Alex's every move.

When the investigation points to crooked cops, the defending lawyer abandons the case. Wisdom says Rasmussen should do likewise, but staying on has become a matter of honor. As a woman tells him, "We all end up in the graveyard, flying the marble kite." The only question now When?

In the old city of Lowell (once the textile capital of America, now a husk of run-down mills), the streets have never been meaner. Beyond the flickering lights and the bright surfaces lies a shadow world where betrayal, deception, and violent death await.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

David Daniel's stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies alongside work by Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. He is author of more than a dozen books, including entries in the St. Martin’s Press prize-winning Alex Rasmussen mystery series: The Heaven Stone, The Skelly Man, Goofy Foot, and The Marble Kite. Other novels include White Rabbit, a novel of the 1960, and the bestselling political thriller The Tuesday Man.

His newest book, Beach Town, a collection of short stories, is a bittersweet look at the loves and losses of characters, young and old, living in a coastal town.

Born in Boston, Daniel has traveled widely and has been a teacher, surfer, tennis coach, clam digger, and brain slicer in the neuropathology lab at Harvard Medical School.

Reviews

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic PI tale of the tarnished knight who will not give up the fight for justice. Ex-cop Alex Rasmussen fights to clear an innocent man, despite obstruction and dangerous threats from the local police, townspeople, a stone killer, and rival business thugs. Evokes the best of the genre, with clear detail and memorable characters.

[Ellie79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE MARBLE KITE is an enjoyable regional private investigative tale starring a delightful character. PI Alex Rasmussen successfully weaves his way through the mean streets and bars of the low-rent Acre section of Lowell in route to solving his most challenging case.

[scherzo♫ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has some good moments midst lots of violence; ignores a key clue for 100 pages for dithering and blind alleys.

[Janice Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story keeping me guessing to the end.