Double Dead

by Terry Hoover

Summer 1961.

Yo-yos are the latest craze. Teenagers are mad for madras. JFK has faced down Castro and the French are fawning over the First Lady, but suburbanites in Charlotte, North Carolina, a big small town with aspirations, are building bomb shelters in the back yard. Things really heat up when John Lattimore, a wealthy local banker, is arrested for the murder of his mistress Delores Green.

After exposing a scandal among management that destroyed his career and his wife s, former newspaper reporter Steve Harlan is eking out a living as a private investigator, when an invitation to join the defense team offers him the big break he has been praying for. His jubilation is tempered, however, when he learns how heartlessly Lattimore has involved Delores s 13-year-old son.

Lattimore admits bringing Delores s body home and bullying her son into helping him make it appear she died a natural death, but claims she was a secret alcoholic who drank herself to death and all he s guilty of is a cover up.

But the Medical Examiner says the 200 bruises on her body make it murder. Lattimore insists Delores acquired the bruises when she went missing two nights before her death, but the only witness who might confirm his story has also mysteriously disappeared.

Battling his ambivalence toward his client as well as the Prosecution, Steve races to unearth evidence that will save Lattimore from the gas chamber and protect his own family from someone who will do anything to keep it hidden.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

357 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2007

Reviews

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: Southern Murder Mystery Double Dead
Double Dead, the debut Southern murder mystery by Terry Hoover, has been called a “standout by any standard” by Mystery Scene Magazine. I agree and so do the American Library Association's Booklist and several mystery authors. (In the interest of full disclosure, the author is my wife.)

As the book begins, it's summer 1961 in Charlotte, NC. People are thinking about yo-yos, madras and the A-bomb. The heat picks up when wealthy banker John Lattimore is accused of murdering his mistress Delores Green.

After exposing a scandal among management that destroyed his career and his wife's, former newspaper reporter Steve Harlan is eking out a living as a private detective. The defense provide him a big break: a chance to work on the big case he has been praying for. His jubilation is tempered when he learns how heartlessly Lattimore has involved Delores's 13-year-old son.

Did Lattimore do it or was the bottle to blame for the death? Harlan must find out to save his client from a date with the gas chamber and his own family from someone who will do anything to keep the truth hidden.

Double Dead has received a thumbs up from The American Library Association’s Booklist, as well as praise from award-winning mystery authors Charles Todd, Judy Clemens and Cathy Pickens.

[Mti Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main appeal of this book for me is that it is set in Charlotte, NC in the 1960s and bears more than a passing resemblance to the 1961 murder of Delette Nycum. Check out the book Charlotte: Murder, Mystery and Maynem, by David Moore for more on that.

Ex-reporter turned private eye, Steve Harlan, is recruited to assist the defense team for wealthy banker, John Lattimore. Mr. Lattimore is accused of beating his long time mistress, Delores Green, to death and then coercing her son to move the body and tamper with the crime scene.

"We don't treat the dead folks any different just because they're dead."

"A pretty, young librarian indoctrinated me in the mysteries of the map section and left me to it."

Reading Challenge: North Carolina

[Debbie Maskus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book emits mixed feelings. A leading citizen is arrested and brought to trial for supposedly killing his"girlfriend". An ex newspaper reporter, and now private investigator, Steve Harlan is aiding the lawyer handling the defense. A single mother, Delores Green, is dead; and the coroner or well as the rest of the town wonder if John Lattimore killed Delores or if too much alcohol killed Delores. Poor Delores has over 200 bruises on her body, and no one can determine if the bruises happened prior to death or after death. Hoover adds to this picture a teen-age son who knows more than has been revealed. The majority of the book deals with exposing the inequality of justice based on personal wealth. This emphasis runs too heavy, and clouds the issue and makes the story off beat.

[Brant Waldeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Double Dead takes you back to the 1960s, a simpler time...unless your Steve Harlan. Steve is hand picked by a prominent defense attorney to get the facts about a high-profile murder case involving a local bank executive. The story pulls you in from the first chapter and keeps you guessing until the end. If you enjoy a good mystery, I'd definitely recommend Double Dead.