An Uncertain Currency, Clyde Lynwood Sawyer Jr and Frances Witlin, Avocet Press, 1999
Mario Castigliani is an aging Italian aristocrat with a real, but erratic, talent for clairvoyance. His last-ditch tour brings him to the dying cotton mill town of Floraville, Georgia. A local black civil rights activist, Roy Washington, is found hanged. All the signs point to suicide (he was suffering from brown lung disease), but Beaufort Tyler, the local Chief of Police, doesn't agree. Tyler asks Mario if he would unofficially help out in the investigation. Mario has something of a reputation in that area, having solved a couple of high-profile cases in the past. Mario readily agrees; he could sure use the money.
At times, the murder mystery is secondary to the story of Mario's life. As a boy in Italy, Mario hung around a local archeological site. One day, he picked up an ancient coin, and, at that moment, la Lucia, his clairvoyant muse, entered his life. He disappointed his family by joining a traveling mind reader/showman named Willie Winckler, instead of following his father as a veterinarian. Willie is one of those who has perfected the art of staying one step ahead of the authorities, having several wives all over Europe. After the duo has moved to New York City, and Willie has married several more women, the
authorities catch up with him, leaving Mario on his own. One night, Mario finds Oriana, his sweetheart from back home, sitting on his doorstep. They get married, but Oriana gets caught up in American materialism, and the marriage eventually fails.
This is an excellent read. The authors do an excellent job from start to finish, with the settings, the mystery and the characters. It is highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment