The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb

Berger and Mitry #10

by David Handler

The historic New England village of Dorset has actually elected a living, breathing woman as its First Selectman. And now she's about to undertake the Historic District's biggest public works project in a generation–the widening and re-grading of Dorset Street. The job has needed doing for ages but the previous First Selectman, Bob Paffin, always opposed it. So did a lot of Dorset's blue-blooded old guard.

The long put-off dig uncovers a body buried underneath the pavement in front of the Congregational Church. It belongs to Lt. Lance Paffin, Bob Paffin's older brother, a dashing U.S. Navy flyer who went missing off his sailboat the night of the country club's spring dance more than forty years ago. Everyone had assumed he just left town. But now it's clear Lance has been under Dorset Street this whole time, and that he was murdered.

Des and Mitch soon discover that there are deep, dark secrets surrounding Dorset's elite, and some very distinguished careers have been built on lies. Coal Black Asphalt Tomb is the tenth in David Handler's original and very funny Berger and Mitry mystery series featuring this engaging biracial couple.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Humor

232 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2014

About the author

AKA Russell Andrews (with Peter Gethers)

David Handler, who began his career in New York as a journalist, was born and raised in Los Angeles and published two highly acclaimed novels about growing up there, Kiddo and Boss, before resorting to a life of crime fiction.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the end for this coming a mile away and it didn't bother me in the least. David Handler can't write this series fast enough for me.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. It's not high literature, so don't go into it looking for that, but I love the love story between Des and Mitch. They are completely relatable. And Dorset feels like home.

[Gabi Coatsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part police procedural and part cozy mystery, set in an otherwise bucolic Connecticut shore town, this was almost like an American Midsummer Murders. The fact that it's the tenth in the series leads me to think that the murder rate may be almost as high as in that English village.
I loved the characters of Des (short for Desiree) our feisty black police officer and artist, and her lover, Mitch, whose penchant for, and encyclopedic knowledge of old movies probably reflects the author's own interest. If not, he's done a hell of a lot of research. And the author's sense of humor shines through too, to lighten up some of the darker moments.

[judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this mismatched crime team and love the small town New England setting. I'd say this plot was totally beyond belief--unless you know how things were in the late 60s in preppy enclaves. If you do, it's actually plausible. Keep on writing about Des and Mitch and I'll keep on reading.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this author!!! Every single book I’ve read is excellent. This book - total fun read. Wonderful, fully developed characters. On of the first author who when a character finds a dead body, I can feel the horror of the moment. Very good app work. This is an author who can weave a complex story, simply.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series: but this novel was a little short for my taste, and the character development was virtually non-existent. If you haven't read the other books, you won't get it.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitch again reasons out the killer of a Navy Lt., Lance Paffin, brother of Bob Paffin, former First Selectman and bain of Resident Trooper Des Mitry's life and job. His body is found under the asphalt of Dorset St., after the new Selectwoman, Glynis Fairchild-Forniaux starts a resurfacing project that had been thwarted for decades. Over forty years earlier, after a party and a quarrel, Lt. Paffin had disappeared, and having bragged that he was going on a night sail, and his boat having been found crashed on the rocks, was presemed dead, and declared death after seven years. But the group of "friends" there that night have been covering a secret all this time. He was a womanizer extraordinaire, who had had sex with nearly every woman in Dorset, including a woman many years his senior, the grandmother of Glynis. As the investigation progresses another murder, that of the nephew and young reporter of the local paper, Bart Shaver is committed to keep the secret. But it no good and his uncle, Buzzy Shaver, his killer, is arrested. He had for years along with Bob Paffin, his wife Delia, US Reo Luke Cahoon, Beryl Fairchild and her late husband, had kept the secret that Delia had pushed Lance and he hit his head on the point of the wroght iron fence at the Country Club. The statute of limitations is up, but their reputations as the town leaders is ruined.

[Susan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well plotted short mystery story. The theme is one I have "read" before but the group of "friends" responsible for covering up a death was nicely written, with compelling characters and our "hero" Mitch solves the "crime" with panache.

I rated this 4 stars based on what it purports to be and what it is.

Borrowed from the Savannah, GA library system.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure part of the problem was randomly reading a later book in a series, but... I don't know, the whole thing was a bit odd. People sure were chatty about their pasts, and a good thing, too, I suppose, or the mystery wouldn't have been solved.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

O.K., I'm a sucker for the era -- late 60s. Those country club parties. That sense of entitlement. How those sentiments conspired to create a problem for our Resident Trooper and her Mitch to solve in the here and now.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berger and Mitry solve a 47-year old murder as well as a present day murder. The main road in Dorset is being repaved and a body is discoverer when the old paving is removed. This discovery begins a trail of many secrets held by prominent people in Dorset.

[Elizabeth Tysdal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second to last in the series and then no more Desiree and Mitch 🥲 This one was especially twisty with trying to find out who killed Lance and buried him in the Coal Black Asphalt Tomb under Main Street. Great fun!

[Hrn1947 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty convoluted. The main theme is always things aren’t always what they seem.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, quick read! Felt like reading a TV mystery show. Definitely checking out more of the series.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but if I hadn’t noted the authors name, I’d have sworn it was a Philip R Craig mystery.

[Linda Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Love this series by Handler. Saw the ending coming up but it didn’t matter, this mystery/ cop procedural is a journey ,not a race.

[Mary Dolata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the history but kind of guessed what happened.

[Cardyn Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desiree and Mitch are in a tie with Lizzie and John for my favorite police officer-civilian crimefighting couple who also happen to be a BW/WM pairing. Handler's series gets the edge over Frankie Y. Bailey's simply because he's written more entries.

The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb blends past and present social class hierarchy with smalltown politics, shared secrets, and the impact of the digital age on industries and individuals. Desiree and Mitch's personal relationship as influenced by their backstories, Dorset's social infrastructure and complicated issues of gender, ethnicity, age and power feels authentically present-day in ways that too few contemporary novels do.

The quality of Handler's writing makes reading any of the titles in the series as stand-alones enjoyable, but reading them in order greatly adds layered depths to the richness of the experience.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mystery set in the fictional town of Dorset, Connecticut. It has been said that if you can't read the first book in a series (and it's out of print in this instance), then read the latest. So here I am reading the latest in this series. The mystery revolves around a dead body found when the main street of the town is to be repaved, for the first time in decades. A sailor is found who disappeared all those years ago. Lots of old wounds are opened among the town's older inhabitants. New York City film critic Mitch Berger and the local police officer, Des Mitry, follow two different paths of investigation, arriving together at a Poirot-style denouement. I liked the mood of the book; I liked the frequent allusions to films throughout; I felt the town was well-rendered. And if the criminal(s) were relatively obvious, it was still a good read.

[Viccy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is always enjoyable to sit down with Mitch Berger and Des Mitry in historic Dorset, Connecticut. It's like visiting with old friends. This time out, the new First Selectman, er, Woman, has decided to dig up old Dorset Road, widen it, repave it and put in sidewalks. Unfortunately, in pulling up the old pavement, the crew finds the skeleton of a Navy pilot, still in dress blues and wearing his class ring. It is the body of Lance Paffin, the worst womanizer in Dorset County, who disappeared 47 years ago after a country club dance during the height of the Vietnam War. It is clear the entire old guard of Dorset has pulled together to cover up for each other. Des and Mitch have to find their way through 47 years of lies.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will preface this review with a disclaimer that this was my first Berger and Mitry book, so maybe I missed something amazing in the first nine books.

I picked The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb up for a challenge, it was short and I figured a mystery/thriller would probably move quickly and I could fly through it. Not so much.

I didn't feel any sort of connection to any of the characters in this book - I didn't even get a good sense of who Berger & Mitry are. Maybe I missed 9 books of character development, but I still feel like I should have a better grasp of the leading characters in this series.

On top of that, I spent half of my reading time bored and the other half super confused and trying to keep all the players straight. Overall, not a good reading experience.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The new first selectman of the bucolic town of Dorset is a woman, and even worse, a woman with new ideas. When she decides that the main street should be repaved, she sets off a furor among the old guard, including her widowed mother. Resident trooper Des Mitry finds out why when the construction company finds a dead body buried under the pavement. Des and her boyfriend, movie critic Mitch Berger, are forced to investigate when the major crime squad cannot immediately get away from other, more timely, cases they're working. This is an enjoyable series, but I think Mitch is becoming a bit too perfect/precious to be a convincing character.

[Pammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this guy (David Handler)! His relaxed & quirky writing style appeals to me and I'm glad I stumbled upon "The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb". This is a well done mystery plot with wit, sarcasm, and tenderness aplenty, though I had a problem at first getting all the multiple & intertwined characters set in my head. Apparently the romantic crime-fighting duo of Mitry & Berger have been winning mystery fans over for quite a while. Who knew? Well, I do now, and look forward to reading the previous nine of the series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone who has seen the Mozart opera is aware that Don Juan ended up being dragged down to hell, but then what? Well, it turns out that he has been buried under the asphalt of Dorset’s main street all this time in a coal black tomb. As usual, the characters rather than the plot are the reason for reading the story. Trooper Des Mitry gets to lead the investigation for a while and film critic Mitch Berger gets to muse on old movies asking questions such as why Joseph Cotton, who had major roles in two of the greatest movies ever, never received much recognition by way of awards?

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sleepy little village of Dorset has buried a dark secret for over 40 years and it's finally been dug up - the skeletal remains of Lt. Lance Puffin, former first selectman Bob Puffin's elder brother. Who killed him and then buried him under the pavement? Who knew about it? Who helped keep it a secret? This is what State Resident Trooper Des Mitry and New York City film critic Mitch Berger work together to solve. And they do it so well and with such style!

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series and this one was strong. But it was a little strange how when only recently Mitch got 'fit' in this book he's back to acting and talking like his chubbier self. Not sure what happened there. Also, quite a bit of rehash of the characters' back stories and history. A little like author is reminding himself or audience what they should already know. Maybe it's been a few years and he felt like everyone needed a refresher?

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good entry in the Berger and Mitry series, this book tells the story of what happens when a road crew exposes a skeleton during their new re-paving project, and how that skeleton causes further exposure of secrets long held by the town's 'old guard'. Des and Mitch have their hands full trying to find out the truth, especially as another death occurs during their investigation. Definitely a good read.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the best Berger & Mitry mystery but at this point in the series that was to be expected. This is still one of my favorite beach read series and it's always nice to check in with this couple. No Bella this time though. If you read the rest of the series you'll probably read this too. So enjoy.

[Lance Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the mystery storyline here is incredibly light, not necessarily weak but not very demanding either, this tenth entry in this series largely accomplishes what it sets out to do, providing a few hours of reading entertainment. Read our full review, here: http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/myst...