Gateway to Murder: A Green Mystique Mystery

by Alan Graham

Beginning his work day one December dawn, National Park Ranger Peter Càrdenas Crow discovers a man’s dead body at the base of St. Louis’s iconic Arch. As he reports the presence of the corpse to site security, Crow wonders whether his discovery may not only make him a suspect but also complicate his consulting arrangement with St. Louis’s elite Division of Criminal Investigation Services, known as DCIS. The death of botanical garden staffer Armillas Longoria is quickly determined to be a murder and John Ramming’s team of brilliant misfits at the DCIS is called in. The murder weapon is missing, but the autopsy makes clear it’s no ordinary knife; in fact, the team begins to suspect that it might be an artifact of incalculable historical significance. Then they discover that the mud clumped on the victim’s sleeve contains a mix of pollen so distinctive that it alone might pinpoint the killer. As DCIS sifts the evidence, John Ramming is haunted by guilt from the past, investigator Ito Sebacious sees an opportunity to wreak some long-delayed private vengeance, and Peter Crow, though cleared early on, may turn out to have played a role in the crime after all. John Ramming’s 100thcase closes in a way that neither DCIS nor the murder suspects could have predicted in a story rich with both human and forensic puzzles.

308 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2021

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent crime novel that includes pollen evidence as part of the forensic work (a first?). Clear and accurate explanations of the use of pollen to link a suspect to a victim. Very good development of the main characters. I'm hoping to read the next two books that were planned in this series before the passing of the author.