LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE

by John R. Riggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 28, 1986

Like The Last Laugh (1984): another slice of folksy, grim Wisconsin gothic, featuring narrator-sleuth Garth Ryland, editor of the weekly Oakalla Reporter--who sets off a nasty series of events when he discovers a 1936 Cadillac under a heap of straw in a remote, abandoned barn. To surprise his dear, acerbic housekeeper Ruth on her birthday, Garth sets out to get the Cadillac overhauled and refurbished. But the presence of the old car seems to be generating mayhem in and around Oakalla. First there's the disappearance of veteran mechanic Woody Padgett; then a fire breaks out in the shop where the Cadillac's being worked on. So Garth looks into the Caddy's history, connecting it to a never-solved local mystery circa 1949: the multiple disappearances of aging tycoon ""Big-Ears"" Brainard, his beauteous teen-age bride Nellie, and the Brainard fortune. . .$1 million in cash! And it isn't long before Garth's curiosity leads him to start digging up an old well near that old barn--thus discovering the mortal remains of ""Big-Ears,"" an apparent victim of bygone foul play. Was the $1 million hidden in the Caddy? Whatever happened to Nellie, a notorious femme fatale? Is the disappearance of Woody--who doted on Nellie back in the 40's--connected to the Brainard mystery? Those are the questions that lead Garth into a lethal confrontation with a totally coldblooded villain: he's nearly burned to death in the old Brainard mansion, then nearly run over by that very same Cadillac. . . before there's violent justice all around and an airing of all the dark secrets (abortion, patricide, rat poison in the buttermilk) in the neighborhood's past. A bit overdone on the red herrings (marijuana trade, real estate) and the gothic doings--but, if less distinctive than The Last Laugh, this sequel has some of the same small-town charm and flinty character-appeal.

Pub Date: April 28, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dembner--Dist. by Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION