A Stranger Lies There

By Stephen Santogrossi

On a very hot morning in Southern California, Tim Ryder brings his coffee out to the front porch. Before he can take a sip, he sees the dead body of a young man laid out on his lawn. Neither Tim nor his wife, Deirdre, has ever seen the man before, but the youth's death stirs up unhappy memories of the lives they were living twenty years earlier. Up to this point, they had done a good job of leaving behind their troubled pasts. Deirdre overcame her drug addiction and now worked in a clinic helping other addicts to climb out of their private hells. Tim was just a college student when he and his friends were led astray by an older man named Turret. They thought they were protesting the Vietnam War, but Turret was manipulating them in order to rob a local bank. The attempt went awry and both Turret and Tim ended up in jail. Tim's sentence was considerably shorter since he accepted a deal and testified against Turret. When a detective shows up at Tim's house, all these years later, and tells him that Turret has just been released from prison, Tim is certain that the dead body on his lawn is some kind of revenge. And maybe it's only the beginning. Tim is determined to learn who the boy is, and, in turn, what else Turret has planned. But his search will require more of him than he ever imagined. Since its beginning, the St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Contest has succeeded in discovering many amazing new mystery authors. Stephen Santogrossi joins that long, proud tradition with "A""Stranger Lies There, " the prologue to what will surely be more excellent mysteries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312364415
• ISBN13: 9780312364410
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.1" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Debut Novel From a Promising New Author

Debut author Stephen Santogrossi won the St. Martin's Press "Malice Domestic" competition with his murder mystery A STRANGER LIES THERE, and with good reason. The book pulls the reader in at the very beginning, when Tim Ryder finds a corpse on his front lawn. The story is told from Ryder's viewpoint, and as the discovery of the body turns into a murder investigation, ex-con Ryder starts to wrestle with a past he thought he had left behind. Ryder uses a powerful narrative style, alternating between insightful analysis and artful description of the surroundings ("My house was dwarfed by the San Jacintos rising behind it - if it were an animal it would have been trembling, ready to bolt."). Informed by the police that his former partner in crime has just been released from prison, Tim has to wonder if the body on his lawn is a warning of worse things to come. His wife, Deirdre, tries to help him unravel the mystery, but her work as a drug counselor raises the question that the dead body might be a message for her instead of Tim. Author Santogrossi has a wide range of talents, as demonstrated by realistic cop dialogue, detailed crime scene descriptions, and extensive psychological analysis that would seem out of place except for Tim and Deidre's backgrounds. Santogrossi paints a vivid picture of the Palm Springs area where much of the action takes place, but he is not afraid to shift the scene to New York City, and then to the dying Salton Sea back in California. Dying may not be the right word here, though. The best part of the book takes place in the Salton Sea's desert area, and Santogrossi brings the whole place to life. His depiction of a colony of outcasts who subsist on scavenged munitions from a nearby bombing range is reminiscent of William Gibson's best post-apocalyptic worlds, and Ryder's passage through this arid region strips him down to his very essence. Ryder shows great intelligence and determination in his quest to identify the body on his lawn, even when it gets him hoisted on a chain in a New York City warehouse for an unfriendly discussion with shadowy people who would like to see him drop the whole thing. His investigation, though the work of an amateur, is logical and persistent, as he just won't give up on the question: Who was the stranger lying there?

Freshman Mystery Author Spins Vivid Tale

Stephen Santogrossi's first attempt in the publishing world deals with a young man found dead on someone's front lawn in sunny Palm Springs. From the first chapter until the end, Santogrossi weaves an interesting web of everyday characters who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. In parts throughout the book, I would liken Santogrossi's work to that of leading thriller writers such as John Grishman. Santogrossi's use of language and imagery project vivid characters who must make ethical decisions within somewhat very unethical situations. I finished the book within two days as the content piqued my curiosity until the very last page. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of provocative mysteries and thrillers. I think Stephen Santogrossi's first work as a published author was a very worthwhile read. I am anticipating his next work of fiction.