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Michael Craft
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Michael Craft is the author of five previous novels, including the first three installments of the Mark Manning series: Flight Dreams, Eye Contact, and Body Language. Like his journalist hero, Craft once worked for a prominent Chicago newspaper and now lives in Wisconsin. |
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Mark Manning, once a prominent journalist at a major daily newspaper in Chicago, is now the owner and publisher of the Dumont Daily Register, the daily paper in a small Wisconsin city. Here the biggest news is the impending city council report on a proposed new adult bookstore zoning law, the upcoming election for Sheriff and the upcoming annual exhibition of the Midwest Miniatures Society. In a unique coup for the first-ever miniatures exhibition in Dumont, the "king of miniatures", Mr. Carroll Cantrell has agreed to come and judge the show's main event.
But the exhibition itself is quickly shoved off the front page of the paper when Cantrell is found murdered in his room. To make matters worse, Doug Pierce, the local sheriff, is widely believed to be responsible. Pierce - a closeted gay man and friend of Mark Manning - had been carrying on an affair with Cantrell and was the last person seen leaving his room before the body was discovered. As conservative elements in Dumont attempt to exploit the murder - and the sheriff's association with the deceased - to their own ends, Manning, with the help of his lover, architect Neil Waite, his staff and friends, starts his own investigation of the murder. With Cantrell having led something of a double life with no end of potential enemies and the miniatures world itself being a hot bed of rivalries and closely held resentments, the truth begins to feel very elusive indeed. As public sentiment begins to swing and time running out for Sheriff Pierce, Mark must uncover some of this close-knit town's most deeply held secrets if he's to learn the truth in time.
"Michael Craft's new Mark Manning mystery is Craft's and Manning's fourth foray into whodunit territory. It's also their best... The author weaves many tantalizing themes into the plot helping to sustain interest and build momentum .... His best mystery yet." -LAMBDA BOOK REPORT
"Manning's erotic obsessions are an important part of the story and once again one of Craft's greatest strengths as a writer ... From the perspective of the classic 'whodunit' school of mysteries, this is the best plotted of all of Craft's novels.... A first-rate mystery." -BAY AREA REPORTER
"Craft manages a thoroughly refreshing solution to an engaging murder case....It's all in Manning's skillful explanation of clever, tiny clues." -NEW YORK BLADE NEWS
"Craft's compelling style and well-defined characters draw the reader into the story almost from the opening, with plot twists and turns as complicated as Agatha Christie's .... Eagerly turning pages to see what new developments will unfold, readers will find themselves constantly rethinking the solution until the very end." -BALTIMORE ALTERNATIVE
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Mark Manning gave up a career as a prominent journalist at a major daily newspaper in Chicago to take over as the owner and publisher of the Dumont Daily Register, the daily newspaper in a small Wisconsin town. Living there with his lover, architect Neil Waite, and his nephew and ward Thad Quatrain, Mark's life in Dumont is usually quiet.
At the moment, the biggest news is the forthcoming production of a new play by the local community theater group. Two local teenage boys are alternating in the lead role - one is Jason Thrush, a gregarious and somewhat egotistical athlete, and the other is Thad Quatrain. When Jason and Thad have a verbal clash during rehearsal, it is quickly forgotten by almost everyone involved. But when Jason turns up dead on opening night - leaving Thad to take over the lead role - the local gossip turns against Thad. Jason's death is soon proved to be murder and, even though he has not been charged, opinion about town has all but convicted Thad of the crime.
Sure that Thad is innocent, Mark, with the help of his lover and friends, is determined to publicly clear Thad's name. But that means finding out exactly what happened to Jason Thrush on that fatal day and Manning's investigation may place him and his loved ones in mortal danger.
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Claire Gray is a much traveled, highly regarded and very successful theatrical director who, in the prime of her career, accepts an offer to head the Theatre Department at Desert Arts College near Palm Springs, California. Funded by enigmatic billionaire, Desert Arts College is a new college with a state of the art facility and a prestigious faculty recruited for its inaugural year. But Claire's start is not particularly auspicious - newly arrived and before the school year has even begun, Claire stumbles across a dead body.
The dead body is the wife of a fellow faculty member, whom Claire agreed to drive home from the airport when he came in from a recruiting trip. Since no good dead goes unpunished, Claire is now on the edges of a homicide investigation. Even though she has a million things to do before the semester starts, Claire just can't seem to leave the murder case alone. Drawing upon her theatrical expertise, including a keen understanding of human nature, plotting, and motivation, Claire sets out to untangle the mystery surrounding the brutal murder. There is, however, a murderer on the loose and if Claire isn't careful and lucky, her debut as a sleuth might well be her final act.
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