When it comes to credit, it must be given where it's due: this time, it goes to our multi-talented daughter-in-law, Lilla, for finding this series. Truth is, she didn't find it for me - but rather for my husband Jack. When it comes to books, he and I have similar tastes, but he's much harder to please. Turns out he loved this one (and as I write this, I believe he's in the middle of the eighth book in the series) - and he's been so enthusiastic about every single one that I simply had to see for myself what his fuss was all about.This book, the winner of Edgar and Shamus awards for Best First Novel, features former Detroit police officer Alex McKnight - is the first of what is now, I believe, 10 books. On the job, McKnight was shot and nearly died (his partner was killed) ; to this day, he's still got a bullet lodged next to his heart as an unwelcome reminder. That alone probably would entice me to try the book, but the setting in Michigan's Upper Peninsula sealed the deal. We've done some traveling there, and it is to me one of the most beautiful places on earth. Not wanting to stay in Detroit, McKnight accepts a disability pension and heads for the tiny town of Paradise, Mich., to live in a cabin in the woods. A local attorney suggests that he get a private investigator license, and in part to earn extra money and in part to put his former skills back in play, he agrees - albeit grudgingly. But then, a gruesome murder happens, and McKnight ends up on the case on behalf of a friend (he's working for that attorney, who happens to be the attorney for the friend and his wealthy family). But gruesome isn't the only thing nasty about the murder; clues left at the scene appear to be tied to the man who shot McKnight and his partner - a man who supposedly has been in prison ever since.Trying to solve that murder - and another - all the while keeping himself and his friend from suffering a similar fate takes McKnight all over the scenic Upper Peninsula. Sprinkled everywhere are places at which my husband and I spent quality time: Whitefish Point, with its impressive light station and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum? Check. Sault Ste. Marie, watching the gigantic freighters pass through the Soo Locks? Check. Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Houghton Lake? Check. And who could ever forget driving across the awesome Mackinac Bridge that spans the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Wolverine State's Upper and Lower peninsulas? Certainly not me!From the beginning, McKnight butts heads with two important characters. First is the attorney's former private investigator, who blames McKnight for taking his job. Second is the local police chief, who takes an instant dislike to McKnight to the point of crossing the line of unprofessional behavior (one aspect I didn't much care for, in fact - there doesn't seem to be any valid reason for that much anger, especially given that they've had no previous run-ins). Despite the murders and mayhem, the book is written in a relatively low-key fashion; as I swiped the pages of my Kindle Fire, I couldn't help thinking of C.J. Box's Wisconsin game warden Joe Pickett (a favorite character from another popular series). There's a modicum of excitement and tension, although I never really feared for McKnight's life ((but really - what author would kill off the main character in a series in the first book)? The ending was seemed a little rushed and a bit of a stretch - it was hard for me to believe that the person who masterminded the whole thing had the knowledge to come up with that cunning a plan.Nonetheless, I read every paragraph with gusto, and now I'm delighted to have another series I can turn to when I'm in between works from my favorite authors. But wait - this one has all the earmarks of a favorite as well. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy - one down, nine to go!
Alex McKnight still thinks like the Detroit police officer he was for 8 years; however, he is still suffering from PTSD and three healed bullet wounds. He retired 14 years ago on partial disability and now takes care of vacation property his deceased father had bought in Paradise, Michigan. Five cabins were built on the forest acreage, and McKnight keeps himself fit chopping wood and delivering it to the deer hunters who rent the cabins. Despite the stiffness of his shoulder and the bullet still near his heart, he has recently decided to become a private investigator after a local lawyer, Lane Uttley, urged him to file the paperwork and work for him.Edwin J. Fulton the third is in trouble. He cannot control his gambling habit. It's a good thing he's rich. McKnight is his best friend, so Alex suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder one night. Edwin went to make a payoff on his debts to one of his bookies, only to discover the man's bloody body. Does he call the cops? Guess again. Alex isn't the only one wondering about Edwin's decision to call his friend before calling the cops. Roy Maven, Sault St. Marie Chief of Police, is suspicious of Alex's presence at the murder scene. Ex-cop and being there makes McKnight top suspect, especially when the incident which almost killed McKnight and did kill Franklin, his partner in Detroit, in1984, seems to somehow be tied up in the murder of Fulton's bookie. Maximilian Rose, schizophrenic shooter, is leaving notes and phone call messages for McKnight, about killing the bookies - or is he? Only McKnight thinks he is being stalked by a killer who is obviously still locked up in prison. The rumors about an affair between Sylvia, Fulton's wife, and McKnight, especially since they are true, are not helping.Adding to McKnight's load of grief, Leon Prudell, Uttley's ex-private Investigator, feels entitled to hassle McKnight whenever he spots him around town. Prudell is very certain he unfairly lost the job working for Uttley because of McKnight's police associations and friendships, not merit. Despite the reoccurrence of his PTSD symptoms, McKnight is going to get to the bottom of this mystery even if it kills him. (I will not be continuing with the McKnight series, based on this first book in the series. The writing is not special enough for me. Sorry. It IS competently written and fulfills the expectations of many mystery genre fans, with funny quips and somewhat terse plotting, but it seems boilerplate to me, a reader of mysteries for 40 years. If I was able to choose half stars, this would be a two-and-a-half star read.)
What do You think about A Cold Day In Paradise (2000)?
Shamus and Edgar Award Winner? Very disappointing!Too much hype for a disappointing novel! Sappy dialogue, virtually no character development, and a hero who can't decide if he's Dirty Harry or Pee Wee Herman characterize this "award winner." The ending is the major let down. After an interesting, but not unforeseeable plot twist, the story just ends -- no resolution, no follow up -- it just leaves you hanging. Steve Hamilton apparently ran out of ideas, reached his word quota, or was saving up for a sequel. You should "save up" your money!
—Manray9
C1998. FWFTB: cabin, rose, Paradise, former, police-officer. I can not remember why I got hold of this book. And it is just too easy to be cheesy and say “It left me cold”. I was motoring along enjoying the pace and the dialogue and all was good. And then the end....well, I wasn’t totally convinced. “There are no sand beaches on Lake Superior, nothing that easy and inviting. Instead there are rocks, more rocks than there are starts in the sky, pounded and washed by the waves ever since the glaciers left.”. The author grew up in Michigan and the knowledge and affection for the state comes through strongly.The Detroit Free Press felt that the book was “Brooding, caustic, well plotted and tightly written...grabs you from the very first paragraph” which I kind of agree with even though the plot was just a tad stretched. The jacket photograph is credited to Joshua Sheldon and indicates desolation rather than woods..or the lake..... On Mr Sheldon’s website, a glance of his work in the book cover area indicates that he has done the covers of a number of books – none of which I have read. Oh dear. Recommended for half of the normal crew.FCN: Alex McKnight, Edwin J Fulton, Sylvia Fulton, Lane Uttley, Maximilian Rose.
—Ruth
Not bad mystery, with an interesting small-town Michigan setting. I only picked this up because it got recommended in a vague "readers also liked" kind of way for Julia Spencer-Fleming's books. Small town setting it had, ex-cop now PI for ex-army now chief-of-police it had, but other than that - Alex is no Russ, though he's mostly a pretty decent guy. I don't even know what to say about the "love interest" (it wasn't love)/ex (of an affair, as she's married)/clichéd gorgeous but maybe heartless rich-by-marriage woman. (I'm guessing she does *not* reappear, so it doesn't matter, in all likelihood.) Ending was about equal measure "well, yeah" and "didn't see *that* part coming". Mostly I enjoyed it in a lukewarm way, although sometimes I started getting very annoyed about all the driving while under the influence/half-dead of sleep lack. I thought there was potential for development of some pretty strong secondary characters (his friend in the bar and his other friend who works in one of the Ojibwa-owned casinos nearby), but not enough to make me commit to reading on in the series.
—Hallie
