A Dragon Lives Forever

John R. Riggs

Going through a used book store and choosing randomly brings all sorts of writers to light. This book included "A Garth Ryland Mystery" on the cover and is obviously part of an ongoing series. I had not heard of this group before. Garth Ryland is a small town newspaper editor in Wisconsin who gets involved in the local murders. I am reminded of Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series with the locale and characters.

A body is found floating in the local quarry. The victim is a washed-up race car driver who was visiting with the carnival that was in town for a week. Twenty years earlier the same carnival had been in town and the victim had been with them then. That was when a local teenage boy disappeared. A mystery still surrounds that disappearance.

Garth Ryland reluctantly helps his friend, Sherrif Harold Clark, also known as Clarkie. When Clarkie is attacked and ends up in the hospital, Ryland is pulled in completely. He believes there is a connection between the current murder and the twenty year old disappearance. He has to find the connection and prove it.

This novel is mediocre. It is an easy read, and the mystery is well thought through. I wondered all the way through who was involved with both incidents. Yet the writing is nothing great. The story was fun, the writing all right.