THE MERCEDES COFFIN: A Decker and Lazarus Novel
Faye Kellerman
William Morrow
Thriller
ISBN: 9780061227332
Drug dealing and the underbelly of the music industry set the stage for Faye Kellerman's new thriller, THE MERCEDES COFFIN. Detective Peter Decker finds himself not only in the middle of a case of murder but working simultaneously on a cold case. He also must deal with an eccentric benefactor, the suicide of a retired cop and a dangerous hostage situation. Luckily, he manages to make it home every night to his family --- his teenage daughter, Hannah, and his smart and supportive wife, Rina.
When a punk rock musician turned record producer is found dead, shot execution style in the back of his Mercedes, reclusive billionaire Genoa Greeves finds the crime to be all too familiar. Fifteen years earlier, a teacher at her high school, one of the only people to show the young genius any kindness, was killed in exactly the same way. Greeves cannot imagine what the link was between the teacher, Ben Little, and the musician, Primo Ekerling, but she is willing to pay big bucks for the police to figure it out. With Greeves's promises of money for the police department, they reopen the Little murder case, and Decker is on the job.
At first, there seems to be nothing to connect the two men and the two crimes. But as Decker, along with detectives Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver, begin to work, they find more and more to suggest that there is a connection after all. The investigation takes Decker and the others back into the heyday of the Los Angeles punk scene when Ekerling played with a hard-living and popular band. Drugs, drinks and groupies kept the four band members busy until they all moved on several years later. Going back even further, they find a school drug ring busted by Little, ending in the expulsion of several young men. Where are they now, and did they know Ekerling as well?
With several well-crafted plot twists and a few shifty suspects, Kellerman's latest is an entertaining thriller, although at times it’s a bit flat. THE MERCEDES COFFIN is her 17th book featuring Peter Decker, and he remains a likable and intriguing character, even when he isn't --- as in this case --- set in the most exciting story. Rina Lazarus and her children have very little action in this novel, though their presence in the tale is welcome. There are good reasons why Kellerman's books are so popular: interesting characters, baffling crimes, good detective work and the relationship between Decker and Lazarus, to name a few. All of that is present here, although they are not as compelling as they are in many of her other titles. But dedicated readers and those new to her work will find much to admire here as the writing is always sharp and the stories are well thought out.
THE MERCEDES COFFIN is far from her finest work (the earliest Decker and Lazarus novels being the most dynamic and unique), but it is still a solid effort from the talented and original Faye Kellerman.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
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