Exile Trust

Frank Cole #3

by Vincent H. O'Neil

Things are about to heat up in the sleepy town of Exile, Florida. When fact-checker Frank Cole is asked to help the Exile Bank update its safe-deposit records, it sounds like a nice, simple job. With the aid of retiree Gray Toliver, Frank starts tracking down bank customers who left the area without emptying their safe-deposit boxes.

That’s when the temperature starts to rise. Frank learns that an impostor tricked his way into the safe-deposit room a few days earlier, and that he may have emptied one of the boxes. No one can get in touch with the box owner, Dorothea Freehoffer, so Frank decides to go knock on a few doors. The mercury climbs a few more notches when Frank finds out that Dorothea died of an accidental fall shortly before the impostor visited the bank.

Frank begins to dig into the accident, only to find more questions than answers. A shady lawyer is making inquiries in Dorothea’s neighborhood. A sultry district attorney starts dogging Frank’s footsteps. A sealed envelope that Dorothea had hidden with a friend appears, but all it contains is a map of a real estate development that never happened.

Throw in a crooked geologist who disappeared in the area twenty years ago, a pair of smooth-talking land speculators, and a visitor from Frank’s past who is in no hurry to leave, and Exile is well on its way to the boiling point

The third installment of Vincent H. O'Neil's mystery series continues the story of amateur sleuth Frank Cole as he tries to identify a phantom, track down some missing bank customers, solve a murder, and earn a little Exile Trust.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 2008

About the author

Vincent H. O’Neil is the Malice Award-winning author of the Exile mystery series from St. Martin's Press and the military science fiction Sim War series (writing as Henry V. O'Neil) from HarperCollins.

He is also the author of the theater-themed murder mystery DEATH TROUPE, and two books in a New England-based horror series, INTERLANDS and DENIZENS.

Most recently, he released an innovative news series that pairs a futuristic fiction novel with a non-fiction book.

The novel, A PAUSE IN THE PERPETUAL ROTATION, describes a future United States where people are embracing an underground philosophy called The Unused Path. The non-fiction book, THE UNUSED PATH, is a genuine self-improvement / life philosophy manual that is featured extensively in the novel.

Learn more at www.vincenthoneil.com

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me think. I wonder if I could of figured any of the information out....from finding a safety deposit box owner...to solving a murder from 20 years before. It all comes together when Frank Cole and his pals figure out the clues and ask the right questions. The Author, Vincent O'Neil makes you think and lets you figure out some of the mystery from the clues dropped throughout the story. He may have a few twists up his sleeve...but for the most part I appreciate a mystery that gives me an opportunity to come to the same conclusion as the person who solves the mystery in the story. Agatha Christie sometimes made me upset when her mystery was explained...some of the facts or way people reacted was not shared with the reader...so you had a lot less of a chance of figuring it out. I still have one more book in the Exile series to read. I hope this author continues to tell the story of Frank Cole in additional books still to be published. Can't wait to discuss this book in the Skype book club.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yay! More adorable Frank Cole. My favorite part of this one was the surprise Encyclopedia-Brown-style ending (anyone else a former Encyclopedia fan??) Another one from my mom...

[Robert Enzenauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Neil has continued his "classic" murder mystery in Exile, Florida. O'Neil is a master story-teller, and has further developed a very interesting character-Frank Cole. The story will "pull you in" and forced me to read in one sitting - fortunately I have a long plane flight and was able to read without loosing sleep. (Also has an extra hour due to daylight savings time.) O'Neil does for small-town Florida what another favorite murder mystery author of mine- Brendan DuBois does for coastal New Hampshire. I like Cole as an "under-employed" fact checker, who has the time to follow-up of decades-old real-estate swindles and track-down "missing" safe-deposit holders, conceivably at the heart of one and perhaps two murders.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps getting better and better. These books are good to suggest to readers of cozy mysteries---they're not peopled with little old ladies running yarn shops and tripping over dead bodies, but they have good characters, thought-out plots, and the gore is very minimal.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my Skype book club's book for April. I'm looking forward to our discussion of it. This series is fun to read. It makes you think, but doesn't make you feel stupid, if that makes any sense. The characters are interesting and I look forward to reading more in this series.

[wayward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a page turner. The plot was well thought out, with a few interesting twists. I wanted to keep reading and am looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nive mystery just didn't feel like a resolution at the end.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books get better and better. Frank is growing as an investigator and even though he still gets things wrong he doesn't let that bother him, he learns from it instead. I wasn't sure if I was going to like his friend Mark as I kinda felt like maybe he wasn't doing enough to help him out with his financial troubles but he surprised me and I enjoyed getting to meet him. Can't wait to read the next one!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Cole may be down on his luck as far as work is concerned but he gets a big bite when offered the bank security box case to investigate.He gets help along the way from a few people in unexpected ways.In the end more then one mystery gets solved and life as we say goes on.

[Jami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I debated between a 2-3 rating on this one, and decided it was just okay. Definitely did not inspire me to read others in the series. I thought some of the events were a stretch.