Past Dying

Alan Graham Mysteries #4

by Malcolm Shuman

An American Legend was Born on the Louisiana Bayou. An American Dream was Murdered There Two Centuries Later.

Alan Graham is a contract archaeologist, and certainly not an expert on paranormal activity. Yet he's the one the Louisiana Corps of Engineers sends to investigate a small-town librarian's claim that she saw a UFO fall into the river. But instead of some extraterrestrial traveler, Graham discovers a dead man in a car clutching an ancient silver coin and slain with a most unusual blade sunken into the muddy river bottom.

History is Alan Graham's greatest passion. So distancing himself from this case, with its intriguing connections to the past, is out of the question especially when the trail turns toward the legend of Jim Bowie, the knife-wielding local hero who died at the Alamo. But his own enthusiastic curiosity might be pulling Graham in over his head. Because entwined somewhere in tangled backwoods myths and crimes are the keys to a contemporary murderer's dark motive and bloody next move.

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

AKA M.S. Karl and M.K. Shuman

Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1941, Malcolm Shuman grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was educated at Louisiana State University, which awarded him a B.A. in 1962 in the fields of geography & anthropology. Shuman then had the privilege of serving in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966 where, as a member of the military police, he was assigned to Sandia Base New Mexico, with a Top Secret security clearance.

Series:
* Alan Graham Mysteries

Reviews

[Nicholas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be the worst read of the year thus far. I admit this is in the middle of a series that I’ve not read in before, so I cut it some slack. Still… it was bad.

First off, the protagonist was unlikable and uninteresting. He was a dull flat character that did little of interest and was able to make unrealistic jumps of logic.

Then we have the unrealistic jumps of logic to contend with from the character while the plot just gets more and more convoluted. This makes the character less relatable.

You also have to deal with the fact that the book is boring. Nothing interesting happens and everything seems to move at a snail’s pace. It is often jumps from scene to scene with little correlation. The book is presented in a tangled web fashion.

Also, the end of the book really does a poor job of tying things together. There is so many questions that are unanswered that were integral to the plot. There is no real closure to the story and the book suffers because of this.

I can give the book leniency due to the fact that I’m not going to read the next book (or previous books) in the series and won’t find out firsthand if things like a non-closing ending are common or used to further the story along.

Overall, this is one of the worst reads I’ve ever had. Definitely the worst of this year, though I did finish it. I do not recommend this book, this series, or even this author. It was almost a DNF book for me.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent murder mystery mostly driven by small town intrigue combined with a bit of history set around Natchez, Baton Rouge, and Vidalia. A bit dated but not terrible. Quick read. The author lives in in Baton Rouge so the local details are pretty good. I probably won't read any of the other books in this series, though. Low 3 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scrapes a three. Very convoluted.

[Karen Hufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan is an archaeologist and his team is working on a site in a small town. While there he helps an older woman who claims an alien crashed into the river- turns out it's not ET but a dead body. I didn't love the relationship between Alan and his main squeeze. This is the first book in the series that I've read, maybe previous ones explain it. He happens to be friends with the sheriff of the town and tries to help him solve the crime. The story centers a lot on James Bowie- the historical figure credited with coming up with the design for the Bowie knife. It was okay, it relied heavy on the small town mentality for the mystery to move forward.

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fourth in the series and there were lots of refer-backs to earlier books. Kept my interest OK, good local color & some fascinating history (re Jim Bowie), but I was never able to really SEE the main character, Alan. Doubt I will read any of the others in this series.

[Sandy May · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Half of the book kind of felt like a waste of time, with Alan going back and forth and back and forth between different places. And the characters felt sort of, I don't know, hollow? Maybe convoluted Jim Bowie crime fiction just isn't my cup of tea.