Matt Royal Mystery - 03 - Blood Island
| Blood Island | |
| Matt Royal Mystery [3] | |
| H. Terrell Griffin | |
| (2008) | |
| Rating: | *** |
| Tags: | Mystery |
### From Publishers Weekly
Set in Longboat Key, Fla., Griffin's third mystery to feature semiretired lawyer Matt Royal (after 2006's *Murder Key*) proves bad things can happen in beautiful places. Matt, who's traded suits for shorts, now does mostly pro bono investigative work. When his ex-wife, Laura, shows up, needing help in locating her stepdaughter, Peggy, who went missing in Sarasota while on spring break, Matt dives into a puzzle with a quickly rising body count. Matt becomes really worried after Laura goes missing. Is her disappearance linked to Peggy's? The suspense rises as the trail leads to Key West and the Heaven Can't Wait Spa, where Matt uncovers a connection to Rev. Robert William Simmermon, a crazy preacher with a hidden agenda headquartered on nearby Blood Island. Griffin's breezy first-person narration brings the likable Matt, with his killer reflexes and wry sense of humor, vividly to life. *(Dec.)*
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### From Booklist
The gold standard in Florida crime fiction was established by John D. MacDonald with his color-coded Travis McGee series back in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, it’s often been said—and meant as a high compliment—that Randy Wayne White’s Doc Ford was the closest successor to McGee. Well, move over Doc because H. Terrell Griffin’s Matt Royal may be cut in even more of the McGee mold. Royal is a former Green Beret and former lawyer living in Sarasota (where McDonald resided), though this adventure, which involves finding his ex-wife’s missing stepdaughter, takes place on Blood Island in the Florida Keys (where McGee occasionally moored his houseboat). Royal displays the mixture of street smarts, physical prowess, and hypersensitivity that made McGee a paperback icon. Some of MacDonald’s less admirable features, such as amazingly lethal old friends who pop up when the plot requires their presence, also find their way into Blood Island; but even so, this is a thoroughly entertaining, old-school Florida mystery novel that fans of the region and the genre will love. --Steve Glassman
ALSO By H. TERRELL GRIFFIN
Matt Royal Mysteries
Longboat Blues
Murder Key
A Matt Royal Mystery
H. Terrell Griffin
Miles J. Leavitt, Jr.
1946-2007
This one's for you buddy
For zeal's a dreadful termagant,
That teaches saints to tear and cant
- Samuel Butler
Writing, for me, is a team sport. I have the good fortune to have a brain
trust that keeps me on track, provides plot suggestions, criticisms, editing, and a prod now and then when I get lazy. Peggy Kendall, Debbie
Schroeder, and Jean Griffin are the brains behind the writing. I could not
do it without their help, and for that I am very grateful.
Peggy's husband, Dave Kendall, has patiently listened to my ramblings about plot and structure at the same time that he was defeating what
John Wayne once called "the big C." Cancer. Dave has fought this terrible
scourge with grace and humor and determination, and awed me with his
courage.
John Allred, the oil man from Houston who was once a boy from
Sanford, lends me his persona and his prodigious brain. My oldest buddy
is still my best buddy.
Jay Davis is an idea man. One of the thoughts that bubbled to the
surface of his overworked brain fueled this book. Dudley Brown, Patrick
Gray, Demetra McBride, and Paul Roat are inveterate supporters of writers in general and me in particular. Thank you, my friends.
Some of my friends from college and law school days sneak into my
writing at the oddest times. You know who you are, and I'm grateful for
your willingness to allow me to use you.
Debby Stowell, bookseller par excellence, has been my great supporter. This book would not be in circulation without her devoted efforts
on my behalf. Thank you, Deb.
Bob Gussin and Patricia Gussin gave me a chance. Thank you. Your
dedication to publishing, your confidence in the written word, and your
always pleasant and upbeat demeanor have given a number of writers, including me, the confidence to keep writing. Pat's ideas and help with
the manuscript of this book have been invaluable.
The gang at Oceanview Publishing, particularly Susan Greger and
Maryglenn McCombs, have been more accommodating than I would have
imagined. You all make me a better writer. Thank you.
I trust that my Key West friends and readers will forgive me a few
indiscretions with the geography of their lovely island and will not think
I overstepped the bounds of literary license.
Finally, Jean Griffin, the woman who, in a lapse in judgment, married me when I was a college student so long ago. You brighten my life
more than the morning sun.
The body lay on its back, nude. Its eyes and parts of its face were gone.
Chunks of flesh had been torn from its torso, its genitals mutilated.