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Billy Povich #1
Grave Writer
"Even better than his Shamus-finalist debut, Spiked ."
---Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Speak Ill of the Living
Highly praised by both reviewers and mystery writers, Mark Arsenault introduces a stunning new suspense series with his courtroom drama, Gravewriter.
Billy Povich used to be a journalist. He lost his wife because of his gambling habit, and then she died in a car crash. Now he finds himself writing obituaries and living with his elderly father and seven-year-old son, Bo.
Billy plans to kill the man who was at the wheel the night of his wife's death. But then a summons to jury duty for a murder trial delays Billy's agenda. As the trial heats up, Billy finds that his little boy spots danger faster than he does, and a frantic and deadly chase begins with Billy as the prey.
---Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Speak Ill of the Living
Highly praised by both reviewers and mystery writers, Mark Arsenault introduces a stunning new suspense series with his courtroom drama, Gravewriter.
Billy Povich used to be a journalist. He lost his wife because of his gambling habit, and then she died in a car crash. Now he finds himself writing obituaries and living with his elderly father and seven-year-old son, Bo.
Billy plans to kill the man who was at the wheel the night of his wife's death. But then a summons to jury duty for a murder trial delays Billy's agenda. As the trial heats up, Billy finds that his little boy spots danger faster than he does, and a frantic and deadly chase begins with Billy as the prey.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2006
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Mark Arsenault
20 books9 followersMARK ARSENAULT has been a reporter since 1989 and presently covers state politics for The Providence Journal in Rhode Island. His previous novels include the Shamus finalist Spiked and Speak Ill of the Living. He lives in Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 13, 2010
I wasn't impressed with this book to an extent of raving but I did finish it in just two days, so I suppose that speaks something that I cannot - even if it is just an indication of brevity.
I don't read crime dramas. Period. Not because of a lack of interest but merely because I am MORE interested in other genres ... so I suppose it IS a lack of interest. However, reading this for a book club proved to be the right kind of medicine for a lack of interest syndrome. I found myself flipping pages like I was reading a really good book. Note - this wasn't a really good book but it read like one. That works for me.
Being a crime drama, the focus was the crime. The relationships in the story took a back seat and that may have rubbed me the wrong way and back again in any other book but sometimes a who-dunnit story is nice just for the sake of it. The main character seemed a little unknowable, however. At first, I thought he was a bad guy, then he was a good guy, then, once more, a bad one. Maybe that's a mark of a good character, I tend to doubt it, but complications can be compelling.
As for the actual crime and its arch, I thought it was well plotted and paced. Huge climax at the end, big twist, all though there were a few "ah-ha" moments which were a bit unbelievable. I can look past them - as long as I'm looking past them at something interesting, and I was. I love a story where there are no good guys - everyone has dirt ... except the priest with the Moxie. That guy was true blue.
I don't read crime dramas. Period. Not because of a lack of interest but merely because I am MORE interested in other genres ... so I suppose it IS a lack of interest. However, reading this for a book club proved to be the right kind of medicine for a lack of interest syndrome. I found myself flipping pages like I was reading a really good book. Note - this wasn't a really good book but it read like one. That works for me.
Being a crime drama, the focus was the crime. The relationships in the story took a back seat and that may have rubbed me the wrong way and back again in any other book but sometimes a who-dunnit story is nice just for the sake of it. The main character seemed a little unknowable, however. At first, I thought he was a bad guy, then he was a good guy, then, once more, a bad one. Maybe that's a mark of a good character, I tend to doubt it, but complications can be compelling.
As for the actual crime and its arch, I thought it was well plotted and paced. Huge climax at the end, big twist, all though there were a few "ah-ha" moments which were a bit unbelievable. I can look past them - as long as I'm looking past them at something interesting, and I was. I love a story where there are no good guys - everyone has dirt ... except the priest with the Moxie. That guy was true blue.
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September 1, 2008Mark Arsenault has a winner in Grave Writer. Billy Povich was an award winning investigative reporter until his world fell apart. His ex-wife was killed in an auto accident. Even though they had been divorced for 5 years Billy still thought of her as his wife. He is now in way over his head with gambling debts and now rather than being a leading reporter he writes obits for the paper where he was once an ace reporter.
Billy gets called for jury duty and is placed on a murder case. It is supposed to be very cut and dried. Judging on circumstantial evidence it should be an easy conviction. Billy and one other juror, Alec, think that there is more to this crime than the circumstantial evidence.
Then mid-trial Alec supposedly commits suicide. Billy’s investigative instinct was kicking in before that but Alec’s unexpected death clinched it. Billy does what he does naturally to find out what the truth is about the two deaths.
The tension and suspense start at the beginning and continue throughout Grave Writer.
Between Billy’s past demons and his current situation which is precarious as a juror, the story is very intense. The characters have real flaws, worries and problems making them very real.
I haven’t read any books by Mark Arsenault in the past but I definitely plan to read all that he has written. It would be great to see the character of Billy Povich move on to other things using his natural intuitive instinct.
Billy gets called for jury duty and is placed on a murder case. It is supposed to be very cut and dried. Judging on circumstantial evidence it should be an easy conviction. Billy and one other juror, Alec, think that there is more to this crime than the circumstantial evidence.
Then mid-trial Alec supposedly commits suicide. Billy’s investigative instinct was kicking in before that but Alec’s unexpected death clinched it. Billy does what he does naturally to find out what the truth is about the two deaths.
The tension and suspense start at the beginning and continue throughout Grave Writer.
Between Billy’s past demons and his current situation which is precarious as a juror, the story is very intense. The characters have real flaws, worries and problems making them very real.
I haven’t read any books by Mark Arsenault in the past but I definitely plan to read all that he has written. It would be great to see the character of Billy Povich move on to other things using his natural intuitive instinct.
December 18, 2017
I enjoyed the mix of court room drama and out of court trying to solve stuff and the tie between the two.
October 19, 2019
A great thriller. I couldn't put it down Read the entire book in one night
August 25, 2008
GRAVEWRITER (Unlicensed Invest.-Rhode Island-Cont) – Ex
Arsenault, Mark – 3rd book
Thomas Dunne books / St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006- US Hardcover – USBN: 0312335962
First Sentence: That ain’t piss down my pants, thought the old convict.
*** Billy Povich has lost his wife to an automobile accident and his job to gambling. Now he and his seven-year-old son are living in a small apartment with his elderly father. Billy plans for one big win to get out of debt and to kill the man driving the car in wife was in when she was killed. Martin J. Smothers is a defense attorney his newest case is to defend Peter Shadd, an escaped con who is on trial for murdering a fellow escapee. The trial is going badly; there are only two jurors who think Shadd is innocent. One is Billy and the other is suddenly dead.
*** Arsenault is a very good writer. He takes his experience as a newspaper journalist and editor and provides us with very human characters who captured my interest from the start. These are people you can see and know and with them comes humor and pathos arising from situations rather than “the joke.” I particularly enjoyed his ability to have really two primary protagonists and weave them together but without having them directly interact until the very end. The plots and subplots were interesting and each worked. I’ve enjoyed his previous works and he is now on my auto-buy list. Highly recommended.
Arsenault, Mark – 3rd book
Thomas Dunne books / St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2006- US Hardcover – USBN: 0312335962
First Sentence: That ain’t piss down my pants, thought the old convict.
*** Billy Povich has lost his wife to an automobile accident and his job to gambling. Now he and his seven-year-old son are living in a small apartment with his elderly father. Billy plans for one big win to get out of debt and to kill the man driving the car in wife was in when she was killed. Martin J. Smothers is a defense attorney his newest case is to defend Peter Shadd, an escaped con who is on trial for murdering a fellow escapee. The trial is going badly; there are only two jurors who think Shadd is innocent. One is Billy and the other is suddenly dead.
*** Arsenault is a very good writer. He takes his experience as a newspaper journalist and editor and provides us with very human characters who captured my interest from the start. These are people you can see and know and with them comes humor and pathos arising from situations rather than “the joke.” I particularly enjoyed his ability to have really two primary protagonists and weave them together but without having them directly interact until the very end. The plots and subplots were interesting and each worked. I’ve enjoyed his previous works and he is now on my auto-buy list. Highly recommended.
August 8, 2007
LJ does it again. I loved this! It was a hard read at times. It's in some ways more a portrait of grief than a mystery. Billy Povitch is a former investigative reporter that's now writing obituaries. He's also a single dad who has trouble connecting with his son and his own aging father. He's struggling with a powerful need for revenge on the person he blames for his ex-wife's death, and also struggling with a gambling addiction. He gets on a jury for a murder case, and ends up investigating on his own. In the process he meets a young woman who works for a homeless shelter and she helps him find the truth.
I realized after I read this that the plot really isn't plausible (not even a former investigative reporter could get away with sleuthing while on jury duty, and that's assuming he didn't get excused to begin with). However, the character development was so great, I didn't care at all about plot plausibility while reading the book.
I realized after I read this that the plot really isn't plausible (not even a former investigative reporter could get away with sleuthing while on jury duty, and that's assuming he didn't get excused to begin with). However, the character development was so great, I didn't care at all about plot plausibility while reading the book.
July 8, 2010
Short mystery novel. Protagonist is a former investigative reporter for a Providence, R.I., newspaper, who comes unglued and gets demoted to obit writer after his ex-wife dies in a car crash. He and his ex may have been divorced, but he still loved her and he wants to murder his wife's ex-cop boyfriend who apparently was the driver of the car. But other unrelated murders keeping happening in Providence and the protagonist can't help but investigate them. Lots of local references make this fun. Good summer beach read!
June 5, 2016
I enjoyed the local setting of this book, RI. I also enjoyed the character development and the many intertwined story lines. The first half of the book you are finding out about a series of different characters and you aren't sure how they fit in, then they all get wound up together at the end. I was pleasantly surprised at the ending. You gotta love a priest who is willing to kick your a$$. I liked it enough that I will be ordering the next book in this series.
December 2, 2012
Looks like your average mystery, but is well above average in writing and characterization. Even minor characters are fully dimensional and many are extremely endearing. The thread of plot about grief and family relationships and regrets is also very well done - subtle, but affecting. This was a great read for a rainy Sunday.
January 21, 2010
Gravewriter is a fine book. Nothing special, but completely readable.
It follows the classic courtroom mystery formula, but brings interesting and believable characters to the table, and incorporates some reasonably compelling side plots that are woven into the story pretty well.
It follows the classic courtroom mystery formula, but brings interesting and believable characters to the table, and incorporates some reasonably compelling side plots that are woven into the story pretty well.
August 13, 2012
Billy Povich, widower, gambling addict and washed-up reporter is tapped for jury duty. Jurors aren't even supposed to discuss the case, let along investigate it. But Billy can't help himself. It's who he is.
June 12, 2010
This book was so-so. I had seen on a booklist recommended readings so I obtained it from my library. Although I sort of liked it, I am happy I did not purchase it.
January 12, 2011
Up until the last few pages, I really didn't think much of this novel--though I did keep reading. And at the end, I didn't even want to see the protagonist arrested anymore!
The Father is awesome.
The Father is awesome.
October 2, 2011
A fast read- enjoyable mystery
March 16, 2014
Fast paced, multi-layered story with full cast of interesting characters and unexpected twists. Hoping to find this is a first in a sequel
January 13, 2010
a zippy murder mystery with good characters.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews