A Venture into Murder

Steve Martinez #2

by Henry Kisor

Porcupine County is nestled into the peaceful landscape of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; a small town where the residents all know one another, and the latest gossip is never something that can be kept quiet for long. But there’s one secret that Porcupine County has tried to keep quiet for years . . . and those who try to uncover it sometimes wind up dead. 

Deputy Steve Martinez--Lakota Indian by birth, white by association--fell in love with the town after running away from a secret of his own. After finding the love of his life, Steve was able to make peace with his past and find comfort in the land that had been so good to his people. The quiet is broken, though, after the discovery of a mob hitman’s body. Then, during a routine operation, one of Steve’s men literally falls over the long-buried body of one of Porcupine County’s missing . . . a man who was last seen over one hundred years ago. The two deaths are seemingly unrelated at first . . . but Steve Martinez isn’t one to let a matter of relation stop him. 

As Steve probes deeper, he’s confronted with problems both professional and personal that could jeopardize everything: his career and his relationship with the beautiful Ginny Fitzgerald--a wealthy widow with quite a few secrets of her own. 

Through shoot-outs and death-defying surveillance flights, Deputy Steve Martinez is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the peace in the land he loves, but he may find that--even in the quietest of towns--there are some things that are better left buried.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Procedural

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2005

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deputy Steve Martinez, full-blooded Lakota, is now investigating the deaths of several people, one that occurred many years before. Caught almost in flagrante delicto with someone else, his relationship with Ginny is a bit rocky, and the investigation keeps turning up linkages to “Venture” a profitable specialty plant growing operation that is using an abandoned mine to raise the plants where the temperature and other environmental conditions can be carefully controlled.

Kisor, author of Flight of the Gin Fizz, uses his knowledge of aviation to good use, as Steve must pull off a tricky night surveillance flight in the sheriff’s departmental old Cessna, AKA “piece of crap,” to quote his friend Alex of the State Police. There’s a funny scene when they are flying at night to check out some suspicious characters and Steve shuts the engine off. Everything is going as rehearsed until he can’t locate the key, which has come out of the ignition and he can’t restart the engine. Alex, who hates flying anyway, about craps in his pants.

Again, as in the first Martinez, it will be the characters and the wonderful little tidbits of history and information on the Porcupine area of the Upper Peninsula that draw you into the story, not the action.

I like the series a lot.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in the series, keep waiting for more Lakota culture. Started the series after it was referred to in a series by Joseph Heywood. Not sure if the series improves with another book, but will likely pick up the next one.

[Sarah Alawami · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very good read. I really didn't think that that guy would be a murderer. He did after all run a coal mine or something.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Porcupine County deputy sheriff Steve Martinez doesn't suspect that the dead bodies that seem to be turning up are connected. A man killed in a hunting accident, another dead drunk in a smowmobile, the bones of someone who died a hundred years ago...But as life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan goes on in its normal way, he begins to wonder about links between and among them. This is a fascinating series with an interesting, conflicted narrator, but not as much blood and violence as one might think. Recommended.

[Judee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author gives lengthy descriptions of the Upper Peninsula in Michaigan where this mystery is set. Except for the mosquitos, they make you want to go there. This is the second Steve Martinez title and it is better than the first in my opinion. The characters are well drawn and the policework is fascinating. Maybe if you are a cop it isn't very exciting because it takes place in a rural area. For me, it was a good read. When I finished, I went on to the third installment.

[Linda Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just the ticket for reading while in the UP. The author calls out a lot of places that I am familiar with, even though the names are slightly changed. The plot is well thought out with enough twists are coincidences to keep you involved and guessing. The love interest is just that, low key and tasteful, a nice addition to the story.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the UP setting since I had recently visited that area. I very much liked the main character and his love interest.

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Good; Continuing character: Steve Martinez; an old copper mine is being used to grow plants, but also seems to draw some unsavory characters to this remote Upper Peninsula area

[SherrieB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first book in the series. Looking forward to the next book.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good books lots of suspense.