| This is a series featuring Thomas Black, a private detective. He used to work for the Seattle police department. Initially he is hired to find a missing "kid" (about 20 years old) named Lance Tyner, who has recently inherited $15 million from his grandfather. The grandfather aced out his own son, Lance's father, and his other two grandchildren. The kid's father Martin is especially eager to find him because the kid was showing signs of sharing the money, even though he is not legally required to. Black finds the kid left on a beach on Poverty Bay, beat up and some money scattered around. Fortunately Black found him when he did, or else the kid would have been drowned in the tide.
No sooner does Black find him, when he goes missing again. He misses his appointment with the attorney and then misses an appointment with his fiancee Lucy who was going to go apply for a marriage license. Black traces him to his apartment where he finds him dead. How killed him? There seem to be no clues, except to try to track down Lance's friends and fiancee to see what they know. The fiancee is easy to find but can't really help. The two friends are another matter. Lance was an idealist who wanted to use his money to do charitable deeds. He did not accept help from his father. He lived basically as a homeless man for two years and these were his main associates. Black has to track them down through the hobo network, in the city's abandoned buildings and alley ways and culverts and railroad tracks. Did one of them know about his money and kill him for it? And who stood to inherit? The will is missing, but if the will were known, the beneficiary may have a powerful motive for murder. Black will figure it all out with the aid of his attorney friend Kathy Birchfield. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100% Special suspect? - best friend Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 40 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Pacific NW City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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