HEMINGWAY'S TRUNK

The latest Tom Larkin mystery by seasoned journalist Winter (Letters in Blood, 2008, etc.).

Beautiful Sophia Trask, wife of New York real estate magnate Donald Trask (clearly based on the infamous real-life billionaire with the same initials), hires DEA agent turned private investigator Tom Larkin to authenticate an antique trunk and its contents. Allegedly once owned by Ernest Hemingway, the trunk contains early manuscripts presumably written by the Lost Generation author. Meeting the egotistical billionaire at the party for his latest Manhattan skyscraper, Larkin encounters Dr. McCullough, retired head of the archives division at the Smithsonian, also there to consult with Trask concerning the Hemingway find. McCullough refuses to divulge his appraisal of the manuscripts, and when Larkin sees him next, he is splattered on a Manhattan street. So begins the violence and double-crossing that characterize Larkin’s latest case. Aided by his luscious administrative assistant Mona, Larkin travels from the Jersey shore to the Hudson River Valley, his progress on the case hampered by violent thugs determined to stop him. The criminal record of Bessie, the dealer who offered the trunk to Trask, makes her an obvious suspect, but Larkin’s questioning of the fiery redhead leads to far deeper involvement. The body count and confusion mount as Larkin questions three generations of the Baskins family, all involved in the literary field. The book is generally well-written, but the prose falters when Winter inserts passages supposedly written by Hemingway early in his career. Despite his weaknesses for redheads and drink, Larkin is an unstoppable and indestructible character. A few too many miraculous, last-minute rescues will leave readers incredulous, as will Larkin’s brilliance at solving the case using cues that are either too obscure or not shared with the audience.

A flawed yet fast-moving, worthwhile mystery.