REVIEWS
OF AND COMMENTS ABOUT
A VENTURE INTO MURDER
“The
stats won’t support the
theory,
but
don’t some parts of the country just seem more conducive to
murder?
Michigan’s cold and remote Upper Peninsula comes to my mind,
as it did
to Henry Kisor, who wrote a nasty Christmas story
(“Season’s Revenge”),
set on the shores of Lake Superior, in which a guy goes into the woods
and gets eaten by a bear. The quick-witted detective Kisor introduced
in that mystery, a deputy sheriff of Lakota Sioux ancestry named Steve
Martinez, returns in A VENTURE INTO MURDER (Forge, $23.95), to look
into another homicide committed in the frontier outpost of Porcupine
County -- “frontier” being defined as any county
with fewer than seven
people per square mile. The  mystery has its strong points,
but the real
draw is the region itself, ‘beautiful and isolated’
to someone who
knows it, mysterious and dangerous to an impressionable
reader.”
-- Marilyn
Stasio, New York Times Book Review
"Deputy
Stephen Martinez, who
makes an
appealing laid-back philosopher-detective, gets on the case in Kisor's
delightful encore to 'Season's Revenge' (2003) . . . Sharp-witted
dialogue, rustic ambience and intriguing, character-driven tangents
will keep readers turning the pages."
--Publisher's
Weekly
"Strong characters, warm confident prose."
--Kirkus
Reviews
"Beautiful, rural Michigan is the backdrop for this captivating
mystery, which boasts an eminently likeable protagonist.
Kisor
... has a lyrical writing style that's perfect for this
well-constructed novel."
-- Sheri
Meinick,
Romantic Times magazine
"Martinez is an intriguingly flawed protagonist, and the
claustrophobic, everybody-knows-all-my-secrets paranoia of rural,
small-town life is unerringly portrayed."
-- Wes
Lukowsky,
Booklist
"I never got to Season's Revenge ($6.99), Kisor's
well-reviewed
Christmas crime of 2003. And MM informs me I missed a treat
judging by how well she likes sleepy Porcupine County's Deputy Stephen
Martinez's second case. Indian, often thought to be Latino, Martinez,
who grew up "white" in the East, has grown to love his roots and
Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He doesn't love the corpse of the
Chicago mobster spit out of Lake Superior or the second body in the old
copper mine now being worked by a Chicago North Shore hotshot as an
underground nursery for fancy seedlings and pharmaceutical
plants. A skeleton turns up, that of a century-old murdered
miner, so Martinez enlists his girl, the town historian, in the
case. If you like your murders low-key yet sharp, Kisor is
for
you. Our December. Surprise Me! Club Pick."
-- Poisoned
Pen
Bookstore, Phoenix, Arizona
"With the plot intricacy and character development of a P.D. James work
and a rural backdrop similar to the one employed by Joel and Ethan Coen
in their classic motion picture "Fargo," "A Venture into Murder" is a
delightfully unique and entertaining read. The tagline for "Fargo" also
fittingly describes Kisor's Steve Martinez novels: "A lot can happen in
the middle of nowhere."
-- Paul
Goat
Allen, Barnes and Noble Ransom Notes Newsletter
"Kisor, who obviously shares Martinez's love for the area, wrote a
wonderful book about learning to fly a light plane at an advanced age.
Not surprisingly, Martinez gets to soar through the air as he chases
after the truth."
-- Dick
Adler,
Chicago Tribune
"Pleasant ... Kisor has created a very real UP town where everyone
knows each other and when two good old boys take to getting drunk and
shooting at each other in the woods, it's treated as a mere annoyance."
-- Ron
Bernas,
Detroit Free Press
"Admirable . . .
Kisor's writing is
stylish, clear and hard-boiled,
with an interesting protagonist and a well-drawn plot. His title is as
dreadful as the novel is good."
-- Les
Roberts,
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Many authors can put out a good mystery, but few can eloquently
describe the vibrant and unique way of small-town life in this
distinctive region as does Henry Kisor. ...There's also great suspense
to provide plenty of thrills, along with characters that charm and
delight, both making for one clever and stimulating read. If you
haven't caught on to this great new series, let this be your motivation
to give it a try."
--
Stephanie
Padilla, New Mystery Reader
"In the hands of a gifted writer, the scenery can be almost as
important as the story. Henry Kisor is such a writer; his perceptive
and mostly affectionate rendering of Michigan's Upper Peninsula
landscape and its frequently eccentric inhabitants lifts his novel out
of the ordinary. ... [As] a glimpse of the U.P.'s unique way of life,
upon which our modern culture has made little impact, it is instructive
and entertaining."
-- Robert
Wade,
San Diego Union-Tribune
"Henry Kisor has written a compelling novel about police work in a
small town of entertaining and intelligent characters. He has
skillfully interwoven two mysterious death, their causes and their
solutions by a central character with strength, character and charm."
-- Laurie
Trimble, Dallas Morning News
“Kisor has created a vivid setting with appealing
characters...Fans of
Steve Hamilton and William Kent Krueger are likely to enjoy getting to
know Steve Martinez.”
-- Barbara
Fister, Mystery Scene Magazine
“Kisor writes smoothly and thoughtfully, evoking the sweet
smells of
forest and shore. His characters are diverse and well-formed. New
situations emerge right to the end leaving the reader wanting more.
This is a great bet for a stormy afternoon.”
-- Kingston
(Mass.) Observer
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