Placid's View: A Mike Diamond Mystery - Softcover

Heller, Murray

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1930098308 ISBN 13: 9781930098305

Publisher: Purple Mountain Pr Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

Mike Diamond lives quietly in the Adirondack Mountains. His home, at the edge of Lake Placid, America's figure-skating capital, is tucked away at the end of a country road which disappears into the fields of an old, deserted farm. It is the perfect retreat for someone commenting on the play of life as a detched observer. He walks the empty fields with Chaucer and Marlowe, his English setters, and teaches his courses at a nearby college.

But life has its own way of arranging things, and Mike finds himself involved with Judy Moraine as well as a Native American artist Jake Whitesnow, a Mohawk who can paint only when he is away from his home on the Reservation.

And when Mike is asked to talk with Christina Clark, the girl friend of one od his students, because, "you're the only one we can trust," Mike agrees even as the cautionary voice in his head tells him to avoid involvement.

But Christina, a figure skater working her way up to Olympic-level competition, is found gruesomely murdered on the practice rink in the Olympic Arena and her boyfriend is police chief Giafne's only suspect. Never mind the strange phone calls Christina had been receiving; never mind the secret meeting involving plans for a multi-million dollar development Christina had stumbled onto, Chief Giafne is after Mike's student.

Mike finds himself more and more involved in the lives of the people he cares about as he tries to untangle the mystery. Jake puts away his paints and leads Mike into the Adirondack woods. Judy's courage is tested after her skills as a librarian unearth vital information. A desperate rescue ignites the passions which culminate in an explosive scene in the Olympic Arena and the disclosure of the killer.

About this title

About the Author:

Murray Heller is the author of Black Names in America: History and Origin and Call Me Adirondack, the story of how places in the Adirondacks were named. In creating the Mike Diamond series Mr. Heller, a long-time resident of Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, combines his love of the Adirondacks with his love of good mystery.

Review:

"Move over, Elmore Leonard...Heller's prose goes down like single malt scotch, all smoothness and sophistication..." -- Paul Grondahl, feature writer for the Albany Times Union

"Murray Heller's new Adirondack mystery gave me a peek into the High Peak's I'd never seen before." -- Dick Case, columnist, Syracuse Newspapers

About this edition

• Publisher: Purple Mountain Pr Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1930098308
• ISBN 13: 9781930098305
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 179