Quarter Finalist
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: The author does a commendable job of crafting a refreshingly traditional-style mystery that will captivate the reader. The plot is smart, twisty, and complex, which keeps the reader engaged.
Prose: The author is a strong writer, demonstrating clear command of language and the ability to pace the story with a fine balance of action, dialogue, and description.
Originality: Lehman has created a rich, complex setting populated with well-defined and varied characters. This is a wholly original and very enjoyable read.
Character Development/Execution: The author has created numerous characters that are each distinctive. Due to the scope of the storyline, characters are numerous yet still richly developed and authentic.
Date Submitted: July 15, 2022
A flood in Ellicott City, Md., threatens lives and livelihoods in Lehman’s stellar fourth Howard County mystery (after 2018’s Ice on the Bay). After the waters recede, human bones are found in a storefront, and a skull turns up in an adjacent state park. Det. Lt. Rick Peller, a 30-year veteran, investigates and discovers the bones belonged to a man about 20 years old and may hold the key to an open mystery. William Ferring, the grandfather of James Ferring IV, the current operator of the family bakery business, disappeared decades earlier when he was around that age. As Peller and his colleagues try to nail down the identification of the skeletal remains, he pursues the possibility that there’s a connection to a more recent crime. James’s distant cousin Chuck Ferring, a gun store owner, was robbed by crooks who left behind a threatening note reading: “Your life will be destroyed. Your means will be taken. Your weapons will turn against you. The wronged will be avenged. The end has begun.” Lehman’s carefully constructed plot resolves itself satisfactorily. Admirers of intelligent crime fiction will be eager for a sequel.
