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Jake Hines #3
Five Card Stud
In this third installment of the Jake Hines mystery series, the first body is found lying in the snow near the river, almost naked and definitely dead. But its not the frigid Minnesota weather that killed him.And, it's not just the murder that has police detective Jake Hines concerned. His girlfriend, Trudy, the crime scene expert with the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, who ought to be at the scene, is stuck in a snowdrift somewhere. When a second body is discovered with a similar wound, a picture starts to emerge, an image etched in passion, betrayal, and fear.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1987
19 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Gunn
32 books54 followersA one-time innkeeper with a taste for adventure, Elizabeth has been a private pilot, sky diver, SCUBA diver, and liveaboard sailor. Extensive travel in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe led to a second career as a free-lance travel writer, during which she began writing a series of police procedural mysteries set in southeast Minnesota, where she grew up. Her books contrast the sometimes gritty routine of police work with the idyllic rural scenes around a mid-size city in the upper Midwest.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 6, 2013
Jake Hines is a multi-ethnic police detective working in a small police department in Rutherford, Minnesota. He was introduced in Triple Play in 1997 and has shown some fine development since that initial novel in this the third book in the series. He is now the chief of detectives, managing a team of investigators. On the personal front, he is living with Trudy Hanson, the photographer and finger print analyst with the state crime lab. They're renting a large old farm; and in addition to his detective duties, Jake is responsible for maintaining a cozy home.
Jake and his friends are playing cards on a wintry night when the call comes in. The first DOA of the year is awaiting him near a highway overpass. It's an odd death in that the victim is not wearing a shirt or shoes, there are no noticeable prints around the body and there's a small bullet wound in the head. The fact that it's a murder and not a suicide means that the police in St. Paul will need to be involved since Rutherford, is not large enough to have DNA labs, blood spatter analysts and other tools to assist in the investigation. It turns out the victim is a man named Wayne Asleson who was a truck driver. What's missing from the crime scene is the truck that he was driving as well as his partner, Roger Carr. When the truck is found, the trailer is missing with its cargo of expensive music equipment and the front is full of blood.
From that point forward, Gunn takes us through all parts of the police procedure-keeping the essential records, logging in the evidence and managing the investigation. In addition to having to direct the inquiry, Jake has to consider the strengths and deficiencies of each member of his team and develop their skills as well. He's got to deal with their problems as well as their egos. And this investigation is not a simple one. There are several angles that need to be followed. Was the partner, Roger Carr, killed? If so, where is he? Was the murder committed in order to steal the truck's cargo? Or was something more human involved, greed or jealousy? The team chases a lot of dead ends.
Gunn does a great job in developing the various characters and depicting the duties of a detective team. The character of Jake, in particular, is very well drawn. He's a man who is sensitive but no-nonsense when he needs to be. I appreciated the fact that the book was not padded to expand its length (under 200 pages) as so often happens in books these days. The only puzzle that is still unsolved in my mind is the meaning of the title, since poker playing has nothing to do with anything that happens in the book.
Gunn is a talented writer, and I recommend this series.
Jake and his friends are playing cards on a wintry night when the call comes in. The first DOA of the year is awaiting him near a highway overpass. It's an odd death in that the victim is not wearing a shirt or shoes, there are no noticeable prints around the body and there's a small bullet wound in the head. The fact that it's a murder and not a suicide means that the police in St. Paul will need to be involved since Rutherford, is not large enough to have DNA labs, blood spatter analysts and other tools to assist in the investigation. It turns out the victim is a man named Wayne Asleson who was a truck driver. What's missing from the crime scene is the truck that he was driving as well as his partner, Roger Carr. When the truck is found, the trailer is missing with its cargo of expensive music equipment and the front is full of blood.
From that point forward, Gunn takes us through all parts of the police procedure-keeping the essential records, logging in the evidence and managing the investigation. In addition to having to direct the inquiry, Jake has to consider the strengths and deficiencies of each member of his team and develop their skills as well. He's got to deal with their problems as well as their egos. And this investigation is not a simple one. There are several angles that need to be followed. Was the partner, Roger Carr, killed? If so, where is he? Was the murder committed in order to steal the truck's cargo? Or was something more human involved, greed or jealousy? The team chases a lot of dead ends.
Gunn does a great job in developing the various characters and depicting the duties of a detective team. The character of Jake, in particular, is very well drawn. He's a man who is sensitive but no-nonsense when he needs to be. I appreciated the fact that the book was not padded to expand its length (under 200 pages) as so often happens in books these days. The only puzzle that is still unsolved in my mind is the meaning of the title, since poker playing has nothing to do with anything that happens in the book.
Gunn is a talented writer, and I recommend this series.
September 3, 2018
really liked this. I think I will start at the fist of the series.
July 14, 2022
Wonderful!
Jake Hines is a terrible cop. Too fun following his milestones. Looking forward to reading more of his stories! Thanks!
Jake Hines is a terrible cop. Too fun following his milestones. Looking forward to reading more of his stories! Thanks!
February 14, 2023
Another great, entertaining Jake Hines mystery
Read
December 7, 2010[these comments are taken from a mailing list discussion and contain spoilers]
[about the characters]
I don't remember missing anyone from the previous books. I think the characters were definitely better drawn in this book. Trudy and Rosie were two who came more to life for me. I liked Bo in Par Four and liked him again here. There was definitely much less cardboard than I was expecting.
[about the plot]
I'm not sure which way to call the plot. In Par Four I thought the plots was silly (in the end) but quite exciting, in this book I thought the plot was far more realistic but it didn't keep me as entertained. Is that better or worse? The ending worked better for me than the previous ones had.
[about the setting etc]
The setting was hugely better in this book. The snow and the cold made far more of an impression than the wishy washy averageness of Rutherford that I'd seen before. And whilst snow is probably easy for an author to paint scenes with I also felt more connected to the scenery of the overpass, the farmer's fields, Jimmy's labs, Jake and Trudy's farmhouse etc than I had done in the other books.
The ending scenes where Maxine is found worked for me and left the book on an up note after the main plot was resolved.
[comparison's to the previous books, overused devices etc.]
This book's better than the first in the series and I'd give it about the same rating as the second but for different reasons. It's stronger on characterisation and setting and probably about even with Par Four when it comes to the plot. It ended better and I didn't feel disappointed but it wasn't as fun to read as Par Four.
There were several spots in the book where I felt Gunn was just leaching information to the reader rather than telling a story. Trudy explaining fingerprints was one and Jake has several places where he just goes on about record keeping to excess. She'd done this in the other books, taken a couple of pages to explain techniques, and I'm now finding it really obvious when she does it. It's not that I don't like being informed, just that I find it badly worked into the narrative. When it got to the "how to play the lottery" explanation I neared "chucking book" point.
[overall...]
The book was decidedly average. I've got the next book so I'll read it for the discussion of course, hopefully on time. I don't expect I'll read the book after that of my own volition though unless Six Pound Walleye works out much better and I wouldn't recommend this series in general.
February 9, 2011
This was one of the best surprises I’ve had in long time. This is a book I bought a year ago at the Mystery Book Store and I’ve just picked it up. There’s cop in Minnesota during a serious snow storm has to solve a major crime. A trucker is found half naked and frozen with a bullet in his head. This writer is very technical in the style of other great crime procedure novels. There is a warm relationship the cop and a crime scene investigator that only adds to the story. The characters are rather well rounded which is not normally the case with this genre. I can’t wait to read another of her books to see if this was not a fluke!
August 9, 2010
This is the second Jake Hines book that I've read - this one involves a long haul trucker found dead with his load missing. Unfortunately, I figured out who the murderer was before it was revealed, however, I still enjoyed this mystery. I like the characters and will read more.
July 14, 2008
Second in a series. Worth finding used (it is evidently not in print).
Read
July 2, 2011A Jake Hines Mystery. The first one I've read. Pretty good, but I guessed the solution before Jake did, so it was way predictable.
October 26, 2011
This one of the best portrayals of team type police procedurals around
October 17, 2015
pedantic
June 29, 2015
This series gets better as it goes along! I am so happy to see that there are still several books ahead in the series.
May 23, 2016
[library audiobook]
Good police procedural. Backdrop of Minnesota winter. In contrast to many procedurals, no bad guy in the law enforcement administration.
I'd read another in the series.
Good police procedural. Backdrop of Minnesota winter. In contrast to many procedurals, no bad guy in the law enforcement administration.
I'd read another in the series.
March 29, 2017
I am really into this new series I found. I just like the way Jake Hines runs an investigation.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews