SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Stander’s Michigan detective takes on a summertime double homicide in this crime novel, the 12th in a series.

During the Fourth of July weekend, the lake shores of Cedar County in northern Michigan fill with what the locals refer to as “summer people.” For Sheriff Ray Elkins, the holiday usually means firework injuries and a few DUIs. This year, however, he’s got a grisly double murder to contend with: a naked couple killed in flagrante delicto near the beach. The male victim, a man of around 30, has tattoos and a history of cocaine use. The female, a girl in her teens, bears evidence of a history of malnourishment and physical abuse. Authorities manage to identify the latter as Tammy Ogden, a troubled local girl well known to Child and Family Services, but the identity of the man remains mysterious. Which of the dead was the intended target of the murder, and why? Elkins and his team—including his live-in girlfriend Detective Sergeant Sue Lawrence—will have to wade into the less sightly corners of their resort area, where poverty, drug use, and gang activity are facts of life. Stander’s prose reveals a keen eye not just for crime scenes but for the landscape itself: “Ray looked left toward the Manitous as they motored north following the shoreline a quarter of a mile from the beach. The island’s upper topography was clearly outlined against the sky. The steep waves obscured the lower half, giving the illusion that they were floating above the water.” The author writes with great compassion for his characters, who feel as lived-in as the world they inhabit—they’re victims of long histories that have carried them, inevitably, to these crimes. Not as fast-paced or formulaic as many works in the genre, this thoughtful tale should please long-term fans of the series and new readers alike.

A richly rendered story of murder on the shores of Lake Michigan.