Shadow of Power
Mystery
Terry Scarborough is a notoriety seeker who has written a book about the American Constitution. Scarborough writes about how even in this current day and age the constitution stills contains inflammatory references to slavery. Scarborough also hints at a letter written by Jefferson which would be even more scandalous than his current book. He goes on a book tour in which every city there are riots and violence. Part way through the tour he is murdered in a San Diego hotel room.
The room service bellhop, Carl Arnsberg is charged. The evidence is overwhelming; fingerprints, shoes prints and motive. Paul Madriani and his partner, Harry Hinds are his attornies. Is Carl just a scapegoat and have the police just found the first criminal available to pin the crime on?
Paul and Harry must find the missing Jefferson letter before the trial ends and find out who really killed Scarborough.
This is a tremendous court room drama mystery. The detail of the the trail is amazing. A definite page-turner!!
First Line: "The sugar-white powder was so hot on their feet that they skipped and took long strides across the distance to the darker sand cooled by the surf."
Rating: 



(4.0/5)
Labels: book review, Martini, mystery
Though this book may have better been called "The Body Farm", this title is taken by Patricia Cornwell even though it's based on a creation by Bass. Bass got into the forensic field almost by accident. Since then, he has become one of the leading specialists in human bones in North America. Bass practically created a specialization (and then a following from other universities) in human bone forensics and claims to have trained over a third of all professionals out there that specialize in this. He also is the creator of the "body farm", which studies the decomposition of bodies under different scenarios. Patricia Cornwell has worked with Bass in the writing of her books, and Bass and his team have assisted in numerous criminal cases. 
The Wentworths are a wealthy South Californian family who are extremely dysfunctional. The book starts with the whole family going to get the youngest son out of jail. I laughed out loud imagining this scene.
Another in the Rebus series!! This time the book starts with a raid on an Edinburgh brothel. Inside is a MP Gregor Jack and conveniently outside is the press. Rebus smells something fishy and goes to talk to Jack. Jack's wife is MIA but shows up a couple of days later dead and badly beaten. Rebus is up against a cunning murderer and a close-knit group of old school friends.
Case History #1 is from the 70s in which a young child, Olivia vanishes from her backyard never to be seen again. Her sisters, Amelia and Julia ask Jackson to investigate because they have found Baby Olivia's stuffed mouse in their dead father's possessions.
George Hall is settling into his retirement very well. He is building a garden shed, reads historical fiction and listens to light jazz. His daughter announces she is getting married for a second time to Ray. No one in the family is pleased. Is she really in love or is Ray just a good provider and helpmate.
Jodi becomes a vampire and of course her whole life changes. She moves out from her boyfriend's apartment and she must learn how to operate during the nocturnal hours. Enter Tommy. New to San Francisco and naive he finds a job at night re-stocking shelves in a grocery store. During the day he hopes to become the great American novelist.
Oskar is a smart nine year old kid that likes to invent things, asks a lot of questions, and knows a lot of useless facts. He lives with his mom and across the street from his grandmother. Oskar's father died in the World Trade Centre during 9/11, which has made Oskar have "heavy boots" and he goes to therapy to try to talk through his emotions. When Oskar finds a key in a vase in his dad's closet, he sets out on a mission to find out what lock this key opens to. This takes him on an adventure where he meets and learns the stories of many others.
A school shooting in Vancouver, BC affects the lives of every single person involved and their families. Hey Nostradamus! focuses on Jason and his family. Jason's girlfriend was the last person shot in the massacre, just as he arrives in the cafeteria. She dies in his arms and he is deeply affected by this throughout his entire life. Furthermore, his family life is in shambles. His dad's only contributions to the family are through preachy sermons on how God wants people to live life, his mother is a drunk, and his brother is the perfect son.
In this novel, Gladwell tries to explain what pushes things over the edge to adoption, addiction, and use. For example, when the shoes Hush Puppies made a come back, it was a trend started by a few people in night clubs in New York. Gladwell examines how a few people could create a country-wide trend. He also looks at tipping points for Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, smoking, amongst a variety of other things.

