Dead Man's Bay

Barrett Raines #2

by Darryl Wimberley

The first appearance of Barrett Raines in A Rock and a Hard Place added an intelligent and extraordinarily engaging black policeman to the short roster of leading Afro-American fictional detectives.

At the end of A Rock and a Hard Place , Raines is so torn by the conflicts he faced that he's gone into an emotional tailspin. While trying to save himself from depression Raines gets a new case. It involves the discovery of a mysterious stranger's body that strongly speaks of illicit dealings and Raines is pressed to follow a trail that takes him to an island so remote he can hardly find the way to it. There he encounters a situation that forces him to call upon his courage and his intelligence not only to solve the crime but to save his life.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2000

About the author

Darryl Wimberley is a native Floridian. After high school, he entered the Air Force Academy in Colorado, graduating with a B.S. in International Affairs. While still on active duty, he attended St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, and received an M.A. in English literature. He then earned a doctorate of philosophy from the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas at Austin. Wimberley lives in Austin, Texas.

Series:
* Detective Barrett Raines

Reviews

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barrett Raines' life is undergoing some major change, most of it in a negative direction. As the first black detective in the small Deacon Beach, Florida, police department, he attained a measure of respect in spite of the small-mindedness of many of its constituents. When he's offered the opportunity to move to a much bigger department in Tallahassee, he jumps on it. It was a real honor to be selected as an investigator for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. What he doesn't foresee is the impact that the move will have on his family. His wife, Laura Anne, is miserable. She's unable to connect with the people around them. His two sons are subject to violence and intimidation at school, and racism is the common thread. In the interest of the children, Laura Anne packs them up and moves back to Deacon Beach. The separation is hard on Barrett, and he turns to the bottle. He's screwing up badly on the job as a result, to the point where he and his partner, Cricket Bonet, are split up and Raines is placed on desk duty.

Barrett and Cricket are given a reprieve when they are assigned to a new case, the gruesome murder of Miles Beynon, a woodsman and hunter, who was also a participant in a drug-related armored-car heist. His partner was a man by the name of Brandon Ogilvie who has disappeared into thin air. Raines follows the leads to a remote bay known as "Dead Man's Bay". It's a small place inhabited by a group of fisherman with a bar run by Esther Buchanan as its community center. Barrett suspects the residents of Dead Man's Bay have information that they are not providing to him and that there may be some kind of smuggling activity going on.

Although the inhabitants don't instantly warm up to him (except for one exception, who HEATS up to him), Raines is able to find some trace of Beynon and solve the mystery. The people at this remote outpost have a complicated history, and Barrett is able to untangle most of their threads. The plot moves along nicely with just enough complexity to keep things interesting for the reader.

One of the main problems that I had with the book was that I could never accept that Barrett Raines would be the kind of man who would put his career above his family, or that he would turn to drink to solve his problems. He is a strong and proud man, but he generally has his priorities straight. It's obvious that he adores his wife; I just couldn't fathom that the big-time job in Tallahassee was more important to him than his family, especially after the events of the first book in the series, A Rock and a Hard Place. What happens on the island between him and another woman doesn't seem in character, and the ending is a total cop-out, both at Dead Man's Bay and at Deacon Beach.

The first book in the series was a hard-hitting and powerful work that focused on the themes of racism and family. I was extremely disappointed to find that Dead Man's Bay didn't measure up to Wimberley's earlier work. He's a talented writer with a knack for characterization and a wonderfully descriptive writing style, but somehow the pieces didn't come together in this book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick read follows Florida state agent Barrett Raines as he and his partner open an old robbery case (because one of the robbers was brutally murdered), and follow a slim lead to a remote area off the coast of rural Florida. Dead Man's Bay doesn't exactly welcome Raines with open arms, and he must work his way into the community to try and find the person murdering/torturing people.

Pros: Wimberley constructs the plot with enough skill to keep the pages turning. The descriptions of a Florida far removed from Disney World and tourists is interesting. Also, Miles Beynon has some views on the environmental impact of tree farms (before being murdered) that might prompt me to dig a little deeper online and actually learn something.

Cons: Overall the book felt a little too neatly done. While there were a few twists in the plot, I never felt like there was an "a HA!" moment when the pieces fall together. There were a few spots in the plot where I felt Raines acted completely out of character. Finally, the ending felt rushed, and a bit unbelievable.

All in all, I give it 2.5 stars.

[Aaron Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick fun read. emphasis on race somewhat distracting to me. enjoyable characters.