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Whit Pynchon Mystery #1
A.P.B. All Points Bulletin
Ex-library copy, Strong spine with creasing, rubbing and small repairs. Bright clean cover has creasing and edge wear. Text is perfect. Same day shipping from AZ.
Unknown Binding
First published November 12, 1987
10 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Dave Pedneau
32 books9 followersDavid Elliot Pedneau (1947-1990) was the author of bestselling crime novels D.O.A. and N.F.D. His background as reporter, columnist and magistrate court judge provided him materials. He has used the pseudonyms Marc Eliot and Lee Hawks.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 20, 2014
A. P. B by Dave Pedneau is a great book. I read all of his books when they were first published and I thought they were fantastic. Time has not changed my mind. I was so excited to see they are now available, I would check for them every month or so to see if they were available and I was finally rewarded. The characters are well developed and realistic, having both positive and negative traits, just like you and me. The action and suspense starts right at the beginning and continues throughout the whole book. My jaw dropped after reading the prologue, and that was only the beginning of the suspense. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written police procedural or who enjoys a extremely suspenseful book. Pick up this book and give yourself a real treat, you will not be sorry. A. P. B is a fantastic book.
May 27, 2017
Some background on this series: I recently went to a closing sale of a used book store in York, PA, but it was pretty well picked over when we got there & I did not feel like standing in line to buy six books from an author with whom I was unfamiliar. My curiosity had been piqued, however, so I decided to check with my local library for them. It requires inter-library loans to get them & this one came from Truth or Consequences, NM to me in Lancaster, PA!
What a great concept for a series! The protagonist is a cranky investigator a year from retiring to coastal South Carolina who takes up with a reporter, despite his inherent dislike & mistrust of reporters. It is set in West (By God!) Virginia, which is also unusual.
This story centers around the serial killings of the wives of local law enforcement officers. It was a good, quick read, which is fortunate, since the late fee on an ILL is hefty!
What a great concept for a series! The protagonist is a cranky investigator a year from retiring to coastal South Carolina who takes up with a reporter, despite his inherent dislike & mistrust of reporters. It is set in West (By God!) Virginia, which is also unusual.
This story centers around the serial killings of the wives of local law enforcement officers. It was a good, quick read, which is fortunate, since the late fee on an ILL is hefty!
October 9, 2024
This book was written by a step-family member of mine. My dad had grown up reading these books, and they have been in the house since before I was born. Due to the nature of the books (gore and murder-esque), I wanted to wait until I was a bit older to read his works. (He also writes under the pseudonym Marc Elliot, who was his son). He mainly wrote police-procedural stories, but had tapped into supernatural horror. As someone who has never read this genre before, I found it very enjoyable!
This story follows recently-divorced small-town cop Whit Pynchon, a cryptic man desperate to retire. Through the assistance of Anna, a newspaper reporter self-reluctantly known as “Annie Tyson-Tyree,” Pynchon attempts to solve the brutal murders of the wives of cops in the fictional town of Millbrook, West Virginia. Suspects are added and crossed off the list, as he attempts to gather more evidence and race against time. As more women are being massacred and the town is on edge, Pynchon faces external pressure from the community to catch this serial killer and internal pressure about fraternizing with Anna and blurring the lines between professionalism between cops and reporters. Pynchon’s character arc changes from a jaded, worn-out cop, to a vigilant man capable of getting back out into the world. When the killings hit close to home for him towards the end, his solve is an exclamation point to a building suspense throughout the story.
What was enjoyable about this story was the intense building of suspense throughout the book. Almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger, leaving the reader desperate to find out what happens next in the murders. The setting of a small mountain town is an interesting choice, and it adds to the contrast of “southern quiet” and “gory murder.” Nobody expects anything too eventful to happen in this town, and while this trope can be seen as cliche, it is used often for a reason. The small-town politics and social interactions lead to more barriers for our protagonist, slowing the story down. The pacing is very helpful in understanding the story and what is at stake in the plot, as well as emphasizing the slowness of the sleepy town and the race against time.
However, there are a few aspects of this book that I don’t agree with, the first of this being the description of women. Yes, this was written in 1987 in the middle of nowhere, WV, but the flatness of all women characters in this story gets old quickly. We have Missie Posisch, wife of Hank Posisch, known as the “town-whore” by the entire police department (who is also having relations with a high school boy, which is problematic in itself). Then there are the “frightened wives,” essentially sheep who flee the town with their children while the men stay behind. Then there’s Anna and Tressa (Pynchon’s teenage daughter). While they are a bit more 3-dimensional, their personalities are not well-built and seem overused. Anna is a persistent, unwavering reporter desperate for a lead. Tressa is an independent daughter always getting on Pynchon’s nerves. And that’s all they are. There is so much room in this story for women character development, yet their arcs remain plateaus. Additionally, the ending seems a bit lazy, as a “hypno-technician” is used to get the last piece of evidence needed rather than by following a legit procedure. It is worth mentioning that Pedneau was a cop for a while, but the overall police language and culture seems forced and stereotyped.
Although this book had its inconsistencies, it was an enjoyable read. I can understand that some books are meant for entertainment rather than accuracy, and overall this was engaging and suspenseful. I look forward to reading more stories by Pendeau in the future.
This story follows recently-divorced small-town cop Whit Pynchon, a cryptic man desperate to retire. Through the assistance of Anna, a newspaper reporter self-reluctantly known as “Annie Tyson-Tyree,” Pynchon attempts to solve the brutal murders of the wives of cops in the fictional town of Millbrook, West Virginia. Suspects are added and crossed off the list, as he attempts to gather more evidence and race against time. As more women are being massacred and the town is on edge, Pynchon faces external pressure from the community to catch this serial killer and internal pressure about fraternizing with Anna and blurring the lines between professionalism between cops and reporters. Pynchon’s character arc changes from a jaded, worn-out cop, to a vigilant man capable of getting back out into the world. When the killings hit close to home for him towards the end, his solve is an exclamation point to a building suspense throughout the story.
What was enjoyable about this story was the intense building of suspense throughout the book. Almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger, leaving the reader desperate to find out what happens next in the murders. The setting of a small mountain town is an interesting choice, and it adds to the contrast of “southern quiet” and “gory murder.” Nobody expects anything too eventful to happen in this town, and while this trope can be seen as cliche, it is used often for a reason. The small-town politics and social interactions lead to more barriers for our protagonist, slowing the story down. The pacing is very helpful in understanding the story and what is at stake in the plot, as well as emphasizing the slowness of the sleepy town and the race against time.
However, there are a few aspects of this book that I don’t agree with, the first of this being the description of women. Yes, this was written in 1987 in the middle of nowhere, WV, but the flatness of all women characters in this story gets old quickly. We have Missie Posisch, wife of Hank Posisch, known as the “town-whore” by the entire police department (who is also having relations with a high school boy, which is problematic in itself). Then there are the “frightened wives,” essentially sheep who flee the town with their children while the men stay behind. Then there’s Anna and Tressa (Pynchon’s teenage daughter). While they are a bit more 3-dimensional, their personalities are not well-built and seem overused. Anna is a persistent, unwavering reporter desperate for a lead. Tressa is an independent daughter always getting on Pynchon’s nerves. And that’s all they are. There is so much room in this story for women character development, yet their arcs remain plateaus. Additionally, the ending seems a bit lazy, as a “hypno-technician” is used to get the last piece of evidence needed rather than by following a legit procedure. It is worth mentioning that Pedneau was a cop for a while, but the overall police language and culture seems forced and stereotyped.
Although this book had its inconsistencies, it was an enjoyable read. I can understand that some books are meant for entertainment rather than accuracy, and overall this was engaging and suspenseful. I look forward to reading more stories by Pendeau in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2015
Review: A.P.B. (A Whit Pynchon Mystery) by Dave Pedneau
I really enjoyed this mystery, which combines down-home cozy with edgy thrills and gory murder (not to mention, some less-fatal small-town troublemaking, such as snooping, gossip, adultery, police brutality and halitosis, envy, fear of change, and on and on). Mr. Pedneau writes well, and brings a small West Virginia foothills community to life. His ongoing protagonist, prosecutorial investigator Whit Pynchon, is a crusty, curmudgeonly, battle-axe, and a talented detective. 18 months remain until he can retire to South Carolina's Low Coast (at 42). It will be West Virginia's loss when he does.
I really enjoyed this mystery, which combines down-home cozy with edgy thrills and gory murder (not to mention, some less-fatal small-town troublemaking, such as snooping, gossip, adultery, police brutality and halitosis, envy, fear of change, and on and on). Mr. Pedneau writes well, and brings a small West Virginia foothills community to life. His ongoing protagonist, prosecutorial investigator Whit Pynchon, is a crusty, curmudgeonly, battle-axe, and a talented detective. 18 months remain until he can retire to South Carolina's Low Coast (at 42). It will be West Virginia's loss when he does.
November 22, 2012
My first book by this author. It had a slow start, but as I read more it got more interesting. I'm not sure about an element that was brought toward the end of the book and how it ended. Guess I'll read the next one to see.
October 15, 2020
I read this West Virginia procedural mystery series back in the 1980s, back when I was still developing my tastes in crime fiction, and enjoyed them through the lens of the time and through the angry alpha-male qualities of its putative hero, county prosecutor's investigator Whit Pynchon, the kind of man I aspired to be in my early twenties for reasons I'm too embarrassed to explore today.
Time hasn't been kind to that version of me, and time hasn't been kind to the stories of Pedneau, who passed away far too young, in 1990 at the age of 43. Pynchon, who seemed appealing because his anger was often righteous and rebranded as almost-charming cantakerousness, comes across now less as an alpha male worthy of admiration and more as deeply depressed and deeply in need of intensive therapy.
Part of the draw of the series to me in the 1980s, as a young newspaperman often working in small towns like Pynchon's paramour, reporter Anna Tyree. As rendered by Pedneau, himself a onetime newspaperman, she comes across as spirited and able to give as good as she takes from a long line of chauvinistic bosses and sexually harassing sheriff's deputies. But she also doesn't know when to turn back from the brink of an ethical line-cross, and, most cringe-inducingly, gets far too much credit for coming up with the cringe-inducing name "Womanslayer" for the serial killer that's coming after the wives of sheriff's deputies in the West Virginia town of Milbrook. One, the name is dumb. Two, the name is unnecessary. Three, the name is really dumb. I rooted for Anna in the book, I guess, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable with her as a newsroom colleague.
In all, however, A.P.B. is a solid procedural with no serious defects despite a head-scratcher of a climactic chapter in which the serial killer(s) are revealed. Serial killers who kill their victims immediately except at the end, when he/they kidnap Pynchon's teenage daughter and for no particular reason keep her alive seemingly for no other reason than to stage-manage the requisite heroic save for Pynchon. No real logic in this, but I guess I'm supposed to be so emotionally moved by a father's do-anything-for-his daughter heroism that I somehow overlook that. Probably it's the newspaperman in me that can't.
Time hasn't been kind to that version of me, and time hasn't been kind to the stories of Pedneau, who passed away far too young, in 1990 at the age of 43. Pynchon, who seemed appealing because his anger was often righteous and rebranded as almost-charming cantakerousness, comes across now less as an alpha male worthy of admiration and more as deeply depressed and deeply in need of intensive therapy.
Part of the draw of the series to me in the 1980s, as a young newspaperman often working in small towns like Pynchon's paramour, reporter Anna Tyree. As rendered by Pedneau, himself a onetime newspaperman, she comes across as spirited and able to give as good as she takes from a long line of chauvinistic bosses and sexually harassing sheriff's deputies. But she also doesn't know when to turn back from the brink of an ethical line-cross, and, most cringe-inducingly, gets far too much credit for coming up with the cringe-inducing name "Womanslayer" for the serial killer that's coming after the wives of sheriff's deputies in the West Virginia town of Milbrook. One, the name is dumb. Two, the name is unnecessary. Three, the name is really dumb. I rooted for Anna in the book, I guess, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable with her as a newsroom colleague.
In all, however, A.P.B. is a solid procedural with no serious defects despite a head-scratcher of a climactic chapter in which the serial killer(s) are revealed. Serial killers who kill their victims immediately except at the end, when he/they kidnap Pynchon's teenage daughter and for no particular reason keep her alive seemingly for no other reason than to stage-manage the requisite heroic save for Pynchon. No real logic in this, but I guess I'm supposed to be so emotionally moved by a father's do-anything-for-his daughter heroism that I somehow overlook that. Probably it's the newspaperman in me that can't.
September 9, 2016
I read the original series and am happy to see it available again in eBook format. The pattern of the serial killer is unique and well written. I also enjoyed the conflict of the main character regarding his liking for a journalist. Time hasn't done anything to this series but help it! Highly recommended!
February 15, 2015
Liked the book and the characters. The mystery was ok but I wasn't entirely surprised by the outcome. I do want to read a few more in the series to watch the characters develop
February 5, 2015
A stupid and senseless book. None of the characters is believable neither is the plot.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews