A Splendid Little Murder

Ed Lane #1

by Henry Simpson

A congressman’s lovely executive assistant is murdered on La Tempestad Island. Federal police assign a seasoned veteran, Inspector Ed Lane, to investigate. On a whim, he picks novice detective Miranda Bell from the Fish and Game service to assist. Lane and Bell examine the crime scene, question possible witnesses, and try to identify a motive and suspects. They find the island a wild west balkanized among cattle ranchers, throwback vaqueros, hunters, a pot farmer, and Grateful Deadhead custodians of a nature sanctuary. Their investigation is complicated by Bell’s unbridled curiosity, Lane’s chronic motion sickness, a charismatic Mexican Mafia leader, a deceitful congressman, a DEA agent with a J. Edgar Hoover complex, and a meddling reporter chasing a Pulitzer.

Genres: Mystery

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2012

About the author

Henry Simpson is the author of several popular murder mysteries featuring mobster lawyer Joe Costa (Death on the Strand, Golden Girl, Joe Costa’s Lonely Hearts, Joey Costa’s Law, Joey Costa’s New Game, Open House, Princess Lily, Some Kind of Genius) and Special Agent Ed Lane (A Splendid Little Murder, Island of Sprits, Finding Elysium) as well as short stories in literary magazines and anthologies. His fiction is character-based and usually has a plot involving greed, revenge, abuse of power, revenge, jealousy, flimflammery in arts or religion, the unsettled nature of reality, or achieving the American dream. He is married, lives in Monterey, California, and has two adult children and five grandchildren. Writers whose fiction he admires include Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Truman Capote, Raymond Chandler, George V. Higgins, James Crumley, and James Dickey. His early influences were Boy Scouts, an urban high school, jazz musicians, surfers, street racers, juvenile delinquents, and a probation officer. At age eighteen, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and began college. He studied engineering, did graduate work in English and Psychology, and holds a PhD from UCSB. He spent most of his professional career at small consulting companies as a military research psychologist, and worked independently as a software engineer, security consultant, real estate hack, and free lance writer while writing fiction on the side. He welcomes readers to his Facebook page or contact him at woodcrest400@yahoo.com.

Reviews

[Marie Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleased with this book.I enjoyed it very much. The story was interesting. The plot development was sound. I thought I had it figured out, waiting to see how Bell and Lane would prove my theory, only to be surprised with new twists. I found myself trying to get back to it as often as I could to find out how it ended. The author gave good enough descriptions so I could envision the island and the people on it, but didn't go overboard so that it became boring paragraph after paragraph I wanted to skip through to get to the good part. The only sections I found reading awkward were the scenes when the main characters were alone, Bell jogging, and Lane in the water. The style of writing in those sections was new to me, and I hadn't made up my mind if I liked it or not.
Over all, I would definitely recommend it.
I received this book for free in exchange for a review.

[Jennifer Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instead of giving a synopsis of the whole book, I would like to focus on the writing style of the author. What I enjoyed the most was the realistic dialogue of all the characters. For me, this is the most important aspect of a story. Simpson has a keen intuition and insight into real life people, how they speak, and their mannerisms. The setting and sometimes even the plot will not ring true if the players are shallow, fake, or unrealistic. Great character development is key to any great story, especially mysteries like this one. I will read more from this author and look forward to his future works.

[Timothy Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like a solid murder mystery featuring powerful characters and solid detective work, then this is the book for you.

The story begins with a gripping scene: Gina's murdered. The scene happens fast, just about as fast as the scene would take in real life, and it works to hook the reader into the story.

Then, in almost NCIS fashion, chapter two opens with
"You have a new homicide", which sends federal police detective Lane, along with interim (and female) special agent Bell to La Temestad, an island of federal land off of California. It's sparsely populated with cattle workers and cattle. The perfect place for a getaway, or a murder if you're a high-profile congressional representative looking to get off the reservation and do some shooting for a while.

Danger lurks around every corner and in every suspect in this fast-paced and captivating novel. Truly, it's a page-turner and definitely worth the read for anyone who likes to solve the mystery as the clues unfold.

[R.H. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true page turner, I could not put 'A Splended Little Murder' down. From the moment Lane and Bell landed on La Tempestad Island and met with Stockton and Martinez, I found myself curious about each encounter with each new character. The author seemed to be very knowledgeable about the lingo, thoughts and behavior of inspectors, making the plot even more believable and suspenseful.

I was very drawn in and enjoyed learning about the interesting things happening on the enigmatic island. This author's ability to give the characters in the novel distinct voices, memories, thoughts (awesome internal monologue) and dreams is wonderful. From the charistmatic character, Garza, and the way he could have a full conversation, yet the other person would walk away with no "new" information. The badinage between the two main characters, Lane and Bell, was quite entertaining. I loved the way they read one another very well - they were the types of people who don't realize that they had so much more in common than they realized. Even the sleazy "bad guys" were characters I found very intriguing, each person adding something very special to the story. I enjoyed the author's descriptions of the misty island, and I could literally see each scene unfold. Very well written. I look forward to more from this author.

[Laurel Osterkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Splendid Little Murder draws inspiration from Shakespeare's The Tempest - one of the main characters is named Miranda, and the it's about a crazy island that needs outsiders to come and establish order. At the beginning of the novel Gina Raines, who is an executive assistant to Congressman Duncan, is murdered. She's a beautiful young woman and nobody knows why someone would want her dead. So Ed Lane and Miranda Bell are called in to investigate. Lane is the seasoned professional with motion sickness and a teenage daughter who misses him, and Bell is a single mom who is used to working in Fish and Game. The banter between the two of them adds a lot to the story, as does the crazy cast of characters and the general debauchery of the island. As the invesitgation goes on the stakes become higher, and it begins to feel like nobody can be trusted.
This was a great story that kept me guessing through out. If you enjoy a good mystery written with intelligence and flair, then you should definitely give it a try!

[bex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been a lot better if the author hadn't lost track of his investigators in the middle and screwed up who did what. I hate when authors do that. But it was a decent enough mystery other than that.

Do other readers really fail to notice so glaring an error? Or is it perhaps that the different perspectives are so identical that only the name and gender hints at who is doing what in those scenes? Better characterization and differentiation of perspectives would certainly be an improvement.

But it was a quick read and had some interesting twists.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great mystery with an interesting setting. Lots of dialogue and I don't always appreciate that but it was handled well in this book. I thought I had it logically figured out pretty early (and was correct) but hadn't quite nailed the "how" ... mostly because of waiting for additional information to be revealed in the investigation. I found the characters to be believable and many were easy to like as well. I could easily see this happening on one of the islands off of SoCal!

[Sherry A Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrible stupid ending

Interesting story, well written, lots of tense drama until a stupid insipid uninspired ending that is an insult to women and to the writer. I am sure if you had given it one moment's thought you could have come up with something better than this throwaway drivel.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable little mystery wrapped up neatly in a great storyline.

Full review to follow.