Something In Common

Daniel "Sticks" Hetrick Murder Mysteries #1

by J.R. Lindermuth

When a lonely widow finds the severed head of an unknown young woman on her front porch in rural Swatara Creek, Pennsylvania, Police Chief Aaron Brubaker is baffled. Anxious to conceal his ineptitude from municipal officials, Brubaker (whose experience has been largely limited to policing weekend drunks and speeders) strikes a deal for former chief Daniel "Sticks" Hetrick to come in as consultant.

Hetrick, bored in an enforced early retirement, has a broader background, including a stint as a State Police criminal investigator and is eager to prove his ability to one particular supervisor. In tracing the ID of the victim, Hetrick discovers a link to a major theft of rare ornithological books and a trail that leads from Philadelphia to his hometown where he is forced to confront danger and the darker side of his community and its residents.

Genres: Fiction

222 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

J.R. Lindermuth lives and writes in central Pennsylvania. A retired newspaper editor/writer, he is also librarian of his county historical society where he assists clients with research and genealogy.
He's the author of 20 published novels and two regional histories He has published stories and articles in a variety of magazines, both print and on-line.
He is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a former vice president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Reviews

[John Dolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy books that twist and turn and make unlikely and unexpected connections; that contain characters with identifiable human flaws, who stray into ethically grey areas. Original books, in other words, that do not follow the usual formulaic patterns to which mystery/thrillers are prone.

J.R. Lindermuth's 'Something in Common' falls into this happy band of well-written, engaging novels. It is a page-turner, for sure - you are grabbed from the outset as a decapitated head turns up on a porch in Pennsylvania - but it also has a literary quality that lifts it above the more 'routine' suspense outings.

Hetrick is an engaging protagonist, and I shall be reading more of Lindermuth's books featuring the ennui-challenged investigator.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by this author for me, and I found it well written, suspenseful and well-paced. The central protagonist, "Sticks" Hetrick, is a retired police chief in a small town in central PA.He is confronted by two murders which seem related and works to solve the crimes. The author describes the town in vivid detail, the characters are well drawn with room to grow, and the plotting is well thought out. I would recommend "Something in Common" to folks who enjoy a good mystery, and look forward to reading one of the sequels in the series.