He's a talented short story writer with over 50 published in both paper and digital form.
Most of his novels and shorts are set in River City, a slightly fictionalized version of Spokane, Washington. (Ed McBain did the same thing with Isola, his fictional New York city.). I've often wondered why authors insist on creating new cities. Perhaps the actual city is missing key features the author(s) need or maybe it makes the writing simpler, in that you don't have to worry about putting a real business or neighborhood in a bad light; you can't offend anybody when describing a fictional place. In any case it's fun to read and its refreshing to have a story set somewhere other than New York or LA.
In "The Bastard Mummy" an artifact is stolen from the local museum. It's a straight ahead theft, no bodies present, at least no fresh ones, that relies on real detective work. Sure there is forensic work to help the investigation but this mystery is solved the old fashioned way, by interviewing the suspects, building a time line, hearing alibis and trusting instinct and intuition.
I also liked the casual sense of humor between the two detectives. You really get the feeling that they've worked together for a while and that Zafiro is also familiar writing about them. Which give an over all sense of confidence from the author that comes through on the page. I felt like I was in experienced hands while reading it.
 |
| Frank Zafiro |
Frank Zafiro's website HERE
You can download the story HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment