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Stuart Haydon #5
Body of Truth
Houston homicide detective Stuart Haydon deals in lost souls, and Lena Muller, daughter of a prominent local family, is about as lost as you can get. Three months have passed since Lena went out to meet an old friend, and she has yet to retum. Haydon is determined to bring her home. But word has come that she has surfaced in a place far beyond her jurisdiction and way out of his league. To find her he must head for Guatemala, a land where people never die . . . they simply disappear. From the moment he arrives in Guatemala City Haydon finds nothing but traces of the Lena, her journalist lover, and the private detective who tracked them down. As he searches for the young woman in a ravaged country, he encounters a trail of her lovers and a string of brutal murders. Lena, it appears, has unearthed a dirty secret, one that reeks of death. Drawn into a world of casual violence and corruption, Haydon soon find that, like Lena, he is seeking the body of truth at the heart of a labyrinth of lies.
476 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 1992
4 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
David L. Lindsey
29 books92 followersI’m a native Texan, and I spent my early years a few miles from the Mexican border in Starr County. Eventually my family moved to West Texas where I grew up in the oil fields and ranches of the Colorado River valley northwest of San Angelo. After graduating from North Texas State University and spending a year in graduate school (focusing on 19th century European literature), I moved to Austin in 1970 where my wife, Joyce, and I still live.
Although I wanted to try my hand at writing fiction after graduate school, Joyce and I had two small children, and the often-rocky road to publishing and establishing a writing career seemed a risky proposition that I couldn’t afford to take at that point. I took an editing job with a small regional press and spent the next decade knocking around in a variety of jobs, including running my own small publishing company for a few years, and editing books in the humanities for the University of Texas Press.
Finally, in 1980, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer to try my hand at fiction. Knowing I couldn’t afford to write for nothing, I decided to increase my odds of getting published by researching what kinds of fiction had the best chance of finding a publisher. Mystery novels rose to the top of my research results. I don’t think I’d ever read a “mystery novel” at that time, but I immediately bought a representative collection of twenty-five popular, famous, and classic mystery novels, including British and European writers. After reading these, and many more, I realized that the “genre” encompassed a startling variety of work, everything from Mickey Spillane to Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Two years later I began my writing career by publishing two mystery novels in the same year. Thirty-odd years later I’ve just finished my 15th novel. Though I began writing in the mystery genre, I eventually went on to write fiction in other areas, mostly dealing with the criminal, national, and private intelligence professions.
When I’m not writing, I spend most of my time in my library. My other pleasure is gardening and landscape work, though where I live in the hilly streets of west Austin, “gardening” most often looks like wrestling with nature, rather than gently nurturing it. Still, though it’s a lot of work, it’s a great pleasure to watch things grow. Joyce and I now sit in the shade of trees that are forty feet tall that we planted when we first moved to this place nearly thirty years ago. That’s a good thing.
Although I wanted to try my hand at writing fiction after graduate school, Joyce and I had two small children, and the often-rocky road to publishing and establishing a writing career seemed a risky proposition that I couldn’t afford to take at that point. I took an editing job with a small regional press and spent the next decade knocking around in a variety of jobs, including running my own small publishing company for a few years, and editing books in the humanities for the University of Texas Press.
Finally, in 1980, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer to try my hand at fiction. Knowing I couldn’t afford to write for nothing, I decided to increase my odds of getting published by researching what kinds of fiction had the best chance of finding a publisher. Mystery novels rose to the top of my research results. I don’t think I’d ever read a “mystery novel” at that time, but I immediately bought a representative collection of twenty-five popular, famous, and classic mystery novels, including British and European writers. After reading these, and many more, I realized that the “genre” encompassed a startling variety of work, everything from Mickey Spillane to Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Two years later I began my writing career by publishing two mystery novels in the same year. Thirty-odd years later I’ve just finished my 15th novel. Though I began writing in the mystery genre, I eventually went on to write fiction in other areas, mostly dealing with the criminal, national, and private intelligence professions.
When I’m not writing, I spend most of my time in my library. My other pleasure is gardening and landscape work, though where I live in the hilly streets of west Austin, “gardening” most often looks like wrestling with nature, rather than gently nurturing it. Still, though it’s a lot of work, it’s a great pleasure to watch things grow. Joyce and I now sit in the shade of trees that are forty feet tall that we planted when we first moved to this place nearly thirty years ago. That’s a good thing.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 6, 2017
Way too over descriptive for unnecessary sceneries, and the ending was unexpected but also a bit too disappointing
August 31, 2022
This thriller was written a couple of years before the Guatemala Peace Accords of 1996, and the level of corruption and violence in this book seems right for the time. Make no mistake, the CIA started the mess that is modern Guatemala with a coup, and things never recovered. There were multiple players, tens of thousands of deaths, and many “desaparecidos.”
So, not being a regular thriller reader, I read this book because it was on a list of books about Guatemala. It was very good, as a political thriller and as a way of seeing the violence in Guatemala up close.
So, not being a regular thriller reader, I read this book because it was on a list of books about Guatemala. It was very good, as a political thriller and as a way of seeing the violence in Guatemala up close.
November 12, 2024
Reasonably engaging but too much repetitive description of geography overall and a fairly flat ending, although very probable. Considering all the drama it's amazing Haydon survived to be the subject of another book.
August 12, 2017
Worst book I have read this year. Took the author forever to develop the story. Car ride after car ride always followed by page after page of the geography of Guatemala.
January 27, 2021
Read in 1992. Haydon must find find a missing girl in Guatemala.
October 24, 2021
The book was great... Until the end.
It was almost like the author just wanted to be finished writing the book and threw the ending together to be done with it.
It was almost like the author just wanted to be finished writing the book and threw the ending together to be done with it.
April 27, 2020
Honestly I read this for school and I was pretty confused the whole time lol. I don't really understand the concept of this book or anything. But it was good from what I gathered for the most part I enjoyed it.
January 4, 2017
Auf den Spuren von John Le Carre
Die Stuart Haydon-Krimis sind keine Whodunnits und Eingeweihten wird die Überschrift schon verraten, wohin die Reise geht.
Stuart Haydon verlässt einmal mehr seine geliebte Frau, sein wunderschönes Haus in Houston mit der herrlichen Bibliothek, um in Mittelamerkika, dieses mal Guatemala auf echte Herausforderungen zu stoßen.
Sein Freund und Ex-Kollege Fossler bittet ihn zwecks Abschluss der Ermittlungen in einem anscheinend glücklich ausgegangenen Vermisstenfall für einen Tag nach Guatemala zu kommen. Doch Fossler kommt nicht zum Flughafen, dafür ist seine Wohnung blutüberströmt und keine Spur von der blonden Millionärs-tochter Lena Muller.
Dafür zeigt ihm der EX-CIA-Agent Cage, mit dem er früher mal gut zusammen gearbeitet hat, eine verstümmelte blonde Leiche.
Bei seinen Ermittlungen stellt Haydon fest, dass die Gesuchte ins Kreuzfeuer mehrerer Interssengruppen geraten ist. Und Haydon ergeht es dabei nicht besser, Freunde erweisen sich als Verräter, niemand ist, was er scheint. So viel realistische Lebensgefahr musste der sonst so klarsichtige Ermittler noch in keinem anderen Roman erdulden. Gleichbedeutend mit einer anhalenden Spannung ohne oberflächliches Knall-Bumm, wie wohl etliche Autos auf der Strecke bleiben und die Leichen Haydons Weg geradezu sprichwörtlich pflastern.
Im Gegensatz zu den anderen Haydon-Krimis gibt es kein Kapitel aus der Sicht eines Gegenspieler, die üblichen Duelle mit dem perversen Latino, der mal schnell mit einer halb verwesten Ratte schmust (Kalter Amok) oder seiner Geliebten ganz nebenbei das Herz heraus reißt (Amaranta) fallen also aus, zugunsten echter, da undurchschaubarer Spannung.
Trotzdem durchzieht das Buch mehr als ein tragischer Hauch bis zur Auflösung im Stil von John Le Carre. Allerdings war das Vorbild 1993 schon nicht mehr in der Lage auf diesem Niveau zu schreiben.
Das Cover ist absolut irreführend, die Gesuchte Lena Muller hat sich zwar „von einem Ende Mittelamerikas zum anderen durchgefickt“, so einer ihrer aktuellen Verfolger und ehemaligen Liebhaber, insofern trifft der Originaltitel „Body of proof“ den Sachverhalt in mehr als einer Hinsicht besser.
Der treue Schluffen Stuart Haydon bleibt sich auch dieses mal treu. Er schläft lieber auf dem Boden als mit der attraktiven Janet, als die nackt aus dem Bad kommt.
Ich hoffe, das war kein Spoiler, aber wer schon einen Stuart Haydon gelesen hat, der weiß, was für ein Umstandszausel dieser Ermittler nun mal ist. Trotzdem mit Abstand der beste Haydon, eigentlich der einzig durchgängig lesenswerte (Die Killer-Kapitel in Sog der Gewalt sind auch nicht von schlechten Eltern).
Die Stuart Haydon-Krimis sind keine Whodunnits und Eingeweihten wird die Überschrift schon verraten, wohin die Reise geht.
Stuart Haydon verlässt einmal mehr seine geliebte Frau, sein wunderschönes Haus in Houston mit der herrlichen Bibliothek, um in Mittelamerkika, dieses mal Guatemala auf echte Herausforderungen zu stoßen.
Sein Freund und Ex-Kollege Fossler bittet ihn zwecks Abschluss der Ermittlungen in einem anscheinend glücklich ausgegangenen Vermisstenfall für einen Tag nach Guatemala zu kommen. Doch Fossler kommt nicht zum Flughafen, dafür ist seine Wohnung blutüberströmt und keine Spur von der blonden Millionärs-tochter Lena Muller.
Dafür zeigt ihm der EX-CIA-Agent Cage, mit dem er früher mal gut zusammen gearbeitet hat, eine verstümmelte blonde Leiche.
Bei seinen Ermittlungen stellt Haydon fest, dass die Gesuchte ins Kreuzfeuer mehrerer Interssengruppen geraten ist. Und Haydon ergeht es dabei nicht besser, Freunde erweisen sich als Verräter, niemand ist, was er scheint. So viel realistische Lebensgefahr musste der sonst so klarsichtige Ermittler noch in keinem anderen Roman erdulden. Gleichbedeutend mit einer anhalenden Spannung ohne oberflächliches Knall-Bumm, wie wohl etliche Autos auf der Strecke bleiben und die Leichen Haydons Weg geradezu sprichwörtlich pflastern.
Im Gegensatz zu den anderen Haydon-Krimis gibt es kein Kapitel aus der Sicht eines Gegenspieler, die üblichen Duelle mit dem perversen Latino, der mal schnell mit einer halb verwesten Ratte schmust (Kalter Amok) oder seiner Geliebten ganz nebenbei das Herz heraus reißt (Amaranta) fallen also aus, zugunsten echter, da undurchschaubarer Spannung.
Trotzdem durchzieht das Buch mehr als ein tragischer Hauch bis zur Auflösung im Stil von John Le Carre. Allerdings war das Vorbild 1993 schon nicht mehr in der Lage auf diesem Niveau zu schreiben.
Das Cover ist absolut irreführend, die Gesuchte Lena Muller hat sich zwar „von einem Ende Mittelamerikas zum anderen durchgefickt“, so einer ihrer aktuellen Verfolger und ehemaligen Liebhaber, insofern trifft der Originaltitel „Body of proof“ den Sachverhalt in mehr als einer Hinsicht besser.
Der treue Schluffen Stuart Haydon bleibt sich auch dieses mal treu. Er schläft lieber auf dem Boden als mit der attraktiven Janet, als die nackt aus dem Bad kommt.
Ich hoffe, das war kein Spoiler, aber wer schon einen Stuart Haydon gelesen hat, der weiß, was für ein Umstandszausel dieser Ermittler nun mal ist. Trotzdem mit Abstand der beste Haydon, eigentlich der einzig durchgängig lesenswerte (Die Killer-Kapitel in Sog der Gewalt sind auch nicht von schlechten Eltern).
July 10, 2021
I cannot recall reading a contemporary novel, which has stirred me so much to consider the criteria we use for reviewing a novel. For instance, are we to rate an author's work by how much we enjoyed the suspense of the plot, or say, the ending of the novel as to how it met or didn't meet our expectations?
The point is, the writing of David Lindsey is "descriptive" - very! This adjective is used by many to both deride and compliment the author's style. There IS a time and place for description in the telling of any story. There is much in over describing a scene whether by Lindsey or by any author that can justify criticism; however, there is also an absolute requirement for a translation of the environment and scene both embracing, and also establishing, a narrative through a requisite understanding of ALL THAT TOUCHES one's senses when, 'we are there' -and not where or when we just 'wipe our eyelids with print ink' leaving blotches of smudge at a time that those senses should be alive and alert!
The over descriptive nature was obvious; however I asked myself constantly, is all this description helping me grow myself, self-actualize? I believe it did, and I assume that those not positively reviewing this novel, did not feel that same reward. Fair enough!
The point is, the writing of David Lindsey is "descriptive" - very! This adjective is used by many to both deride and compliment the author's style. There IS a time and place for description in the telling of any story. There is much in over describing a scene whether by Lindsey or by any author that can justify criticism; however, there is also an absolute requirement for a translation of the environment and scene both embracing, and also establishing, a narrative through a requisite understanding of ALL THAT TOUCHES one's senses when, 'we are there' -and not where or when we just 'wipe our eyelids with print ink' leaving blotches of smudge at a time that those senses should be alive and alert!
The over descriptive nature was obvious; however I asked myself constantly, is all this description helping me grow myself, self-actualize? I believe it did, and I assume that those not positively reviewing this novel, did not feel that same reward. Fair enough!
July 18, 2012
The book is well written in relations to suspense and the way the author delivers that suspense. What I mean by this is, there is not foreshadowing, the events hits and they hit you, quickly as if you are in the moment.
With that being said, this book has flaws, one of which is the over exaggerated way the author describes a scene, far to prolong and unnecessary. There was a one chapter that was nothing more that scenery description, waste of time and waste of chapter. But when it came to the characters, and the actual events occurring, the author did a very good a job. And The ending was unbecoming, to say the least, all that to have an ending like that was- in a way I felt cheated.
This could of been a five star book if the unnecessarily vivid description of scenery was brought to a minimum and the ending was better. I saw, or perceived, that he(author)was trying to do something more with the ending, almost philosophical, but the ending surely left something to be desired.
With that being said, this book has flaws, one of which is the over exaggerated way the author describes a scene, far to prolong and unnecessary. There was a one chapter that was nothing more that scenery description, waste of time and waste of chapter. But when it came to the characters, and the actual events occurring, the author did a very good a job. And The ending was unbecoming, to say the least, all that to have an ending like that was- in a way I felt cheated.
This could of been a five star book if the unnecessarily vivid description of scenery was brought to a minimum and the ending was better. I saw, or perceived, that he(author)was trying to do something more with the ending, almost philosophical, but the ending surely left something to be desired.
February 2, 2016
Love Lindsey. This book either was extensively researched, he grew up in Guatamala, or he has a masterfull imagination. There is a lot of history and political imagery woven throughout the book....or is it the other way around...a story is woven into the political landscape of the country. Good, but not one of my favorites of his.
May 5, 2008
Wasn't sure this would appeal to me because of the setting being in Guatemala. This is an outstanding thriller however, very suspenseful. Stuart Haydon investigates the disappearance of a young American woman. Nothing is as it seems. Descriptive narrative. Similar style to Thomas Harris.
January 23, 2011
This was a cast-off I found while visiting family. It was old and beat up and the blurb sounded like it would be a very average holiday read, but it turned out to be quite absorbing and I suffered some sleep deprivation over it. Would read this author again.
September 8, 2011
Very, Very well written--need I say that the research done for this book must have been harrowing because of the subject matter which in my estimation boils down to human trafficking! Set in Guatemala --kidnapping of babies-subsequent selling of these babies- murder and corruption. A must read!
January 14, 2012
The best of the three Lindsay books I've read, but still only fair. Well written, but extremely long. Does a good job of describing the situation in Guatemala, but ending is ironic and doesn't do a good job of closing the book. I think I will take Lindsay off my reading list.
April 12, 2010
Houston detective, Stuart Haydon, travels to Guatemala in
search of a missing American woman.
search of a missing American woman.
June 27, 2013
One of the best books I've ever read.
May 31, 2016
RATING: 3.5
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews