Exegesis: A Cyrus Skeen Mystery

by Edward Cline

It is late June, 1929. Cyrus Skeen has concluded his case in Stolen Words, in which he exonerated a prominent novelist of the charge of murder, even though the author had plagiarized other authors with the cooperation of the now defunct publisher. Skeen’s artist wife, Dilys, has returned from a visit to relatives back East in Massachusetts, and was preparing to work on her first painting. Skeen’s new secretary, Lucy Wentz, is quick on the uptake, and is working out fine. But now a new nemesis has confronted Skeen, an unknown person who is killing people who have committed horrendous crimes. He writes Skeen and expresses his appreciation for Skeen’s crime-fighting acumen and skills, but wants Skeen to join him in a crusade to terminate all killers. Skeen has not killed any criminal gratuitously – he has killed in self-defense only when someone has threatened to kill him or someone who is a value to him – and wonders why his admirer thinks he would be open to the idea. Then the district attorney for San Francisco demands an explanation for why Skeen’s revolver was found next a murdered mass killer. More criminals are found dead. The unknown vigilante pins a note to each body, signed “Exegesis.”In another unusual case tackled by Cyrus Skeen, the intrepid and unflappable detective delves into the mystery with his usual panache and certitude.

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2016

About the author

Edward Cline is an American novelist and essayist. He is best known for his Sparrowhawk series of novels, which take place in England and Virginia before the American Revolutionary War. He is also the author of First Prize and Whisper the Guns. Outside of his work as a novelist, Cline is known for his writings on esthetics and his defense of capitalism and of free speech. As a writer, his strongest influence has been the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand. Currently, he is a policy analyst for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism. He lives in Yorktown, Virginia.





from wikipedia.com

Reviews

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extra-legal Justice

Criminals meet their end by "Exegesis". Who or what is this? Detective Cyrus Skeen follows the trail to the solution of this mystery.

As with his other novels, Edward Cline writes a fascinating, heroic story.