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A Deadly Calling |
Author: Glenn Ickler
Published: 2007-08-31 |
List price: $6.00
Our price: $6.00
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As of: October 15th, 2008 06:03:26 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 A sometimes humorous story of revenge and faithfulness
Reviewed by Gina Holland for RebeccasReads (5/08)
"A Deadly Calling" is a good novel. In it we meet Warren Mitchell, or Mitch. He is an investigative reporter for a newspaper whose style is daring, delicious and somewhat strange. His friend Alan Jeffrey is the photographer for the paper. Mitch dates Alan's wife's sister, who lives in another part of the country and expects Mitch to stay faithful while she spends a lot of time with her boss.
Mitch and Alan are assigned to go out and report on people in the heat of the day; they are supposed to try and find out how many people can literally take the heat without passing out. When they arrive on site, they see square dancers and callers, those people who call the dances, getting off of buses. They decide to find out what they can from the group, for example, why would they want to dance in that kind of heat?
While they are investigating, a death occurs which leads to all kinds of other crazy proceedings. Mitch meets a couple of gals that are associated with this particular square dance group. He gets close to them, thinking he can make friends with them, and maybe more. All the while he is thinking about his girlfriend Martha. Mitch gets really involved in this case and wants to solve it.
I found this novel to be sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but very interesting. It's a book that can't be put down after a few pages. "A Deadly Calling" would be a good read for young adults and adults. It is like a murder mystery, thriller, romance all wrapped up in one. It has a lot of promise to it and I would look forward to reading any of Glenn Ickler's future novels.
 Death at the Dance
Mitch and Al go to the dance where death shows its hand.
Mitch,the reporter and Al,his photographer, are sent to
the National Square and Round Dance Competition in St. Paul for a feature article.
One of the callers, Big Eddie Plummer, succumbs to an apparent
heart attack--" Big Eddie won't be calling anymore."
When a second dance caller, Lefty La Blanc, turns up dead in the
St.Paul Hotel, Mitch and Al use Lt. Curtis Brown, whom they have reported
on before in a flattering manner, to get close to the case.
The amateur sleuths are off and running to find "...the true facts. They're always preferable to the false facts."
Mr.Ickler knows his turf, square dancing, and St. Paul. He delivers an
engaging story that brings the old "Murder She Wrote" to mind.
Dry humor, knowledge of the territory, and crisp characters add up
to an evening of fun for the reader.
A who did-it mystery
Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (6/07)
Glenn Ickler is a former reporter. "A Deadly Calling" is about Mitch, an investigative reporter who must report on a humdrum square dance festival on a hot summer day. Mitch learns about the politics of square dance calling after two callers are killed within days of each other.
The dead callers have skeletons in their closet. Mitch is determined to bring them to light. The reader follows the unraveling case step-by-step with Mitch. He sets out to determine who poisoned and smothered the callers. Perhaps it is related to a fall-out some of the callers had. Maybe it is related to something that happened at the caller school.
Meanwhile, Mitch's girlfriend is overseas on assignment. He plays the field when she is gone, but he does not consider it cheating. Will he feel the same way when his girlfriend shows signs of interest in Charles, her new coworker-turned-boss? Will their relationship survive? Will Mitch fall for a suspect in the murder of the callers? Will he fall for the obviously sexual Universalist minister? The Universalist minister is an enigma to me. His love life is a mystery, too.
Mitch has a corny sense of humor that will not make you laugh out loud, but it will make you chuckle. He has a fascination with puns. He has affection for his spoiled cat, Sherlock Holmes. The characters have memorable names such as Tennessee McGee (No, she is not from Tennessee.), Big Eddie (a.k.a. Little Eddie and Eddie), and Lefty LaBlanc.
"A Deadly Calling" is a classic sort of mystery with dry humor. The characters are well-developed. This is an easy and enjoyable read. I do wish that there was more blank space where the pages join. Some of the words became hidden in the bend of the book. I recommend "A Deadly Calling."
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