Stone Quarry

S.J. Rozan

For years Bill Smith has owned some property in upstate New York. The county where it's located is farming region and is slowly dying. There is one baby food factory that helps the local commerce, but the farms are losing slowly and often selling out to that same factory. It's perfect for Bill. His home is secluded and has no phone. He has a cell phone, but the reception is horrid. He can hide away here.

But this time he comes up at the call of a neighbor he knows slightly. Eva Colgate needs his detective skills. She has had something very private stolen. The theft could reveal a portion of her life she keeps hidden away. Her farm is productive and still self maintaining. The discovery of the theft wouldn't ruin her farm, but would affect her seclusion. Smith can understand her desire for secrecy and seclusion and agrees to help.

It gives him a chance to check on Jimmy Antonelli as well. Jimmy had been in trouble with the law the previous fall. Smith had obtained a lawyer for him and he was able to get off. Tony, Jimmy's brother, doesn't believe his brother has reformed. Smith does. But Jimmy has disappeared. And a dead man is found in Tony's basement with Jimmy's keys near the body.

Now the local thug and Jimmy's ex boss, Jimmy's current employer, the local county sheriff, the local state detectives, the owner of the baby food factory, his daughter, Tony, and Bill Smith are looking for Jimmy. Somehow, too, Eva Colgate's theft is tied up with Jimmy's disappearance. Some of those people want Jimmy dead. Some want him behind bars. And some believe he's innocent of any crime that has recently happened.

S.J. Rozan usually has a few years between her books in her Lydia Chin-Bill Smith series. And they're worth waiting for. The twists and turns of Stone Quarry are almost dizzying, yet all fall together by the times Rozan pulls the reader to the end.

Not only is Stone Quarry a good mystery, but is a good snapshot of what was happening to American small family farms ten years ago - and still is. Farmers struggle to keep their land and their income. Small farms keep giving way to large corporate farming. The culture in the county is dying as the people move away. There were four active stone quarries there - now only one is left and it is playing out - another sign of the dying economy.

It's also easy to get pulled into Bill's pessimistic view of his life. His past has been hard, which is why he hides in seclusion with his piano and his alcohol. Fortunately, he has friends like Lydia Chin who keep him from going over the edge.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence

China Trade
Concourse
Mandarin Plaid
No Colder Place
A Bitter Feast
Stone Quarry
Reflecting the Sky
Winter and Night
The Shanghai Moon
On The Line

Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell
The Shape of Snakes by Minette Walters