Gravewriter

by Mark Arsenault

Billy Povich lost his wife because of his gambling habit, and then she died in a car crash. Now he plans to kill the man who was at the wheel the night of her death. But a summons to jury duty for a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312335962
• ISBN13: 9780312335960
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent noir with clever plot twists and complex characters

Mark Arsenault has written a cleverly plotted noir featuring Billy Povich, 40, a Providence (RI) newspaper obituary writer, who has a serious gambling addiction. His wife has dumped him and he's almost hit rock bottom when she dies in a car crash with her new boyfriend, a cop. Billy plots his revenge on the cop when a jury summons arrives in the mail. Between taking care of his seven-year-old precocious son, Bo, and dodging leg breakers wanting their money, Billy sits on the jury of a prisoner accused of murder. This noir's strengths are a heady pace, sharp plot twists, and full-fledged characters remindful of John D. MacDonald.

Arsenault is a very good, under-discovered author

First Sentence: "That ain't piss down my pants, thought the old convict." Billy Povich has lost his wife to an automobile accident and his job to gambling. Now he and his seven-year-old son are living in a small apartment with his elderly father. Billy plans for one big win to get out of debt and to kill the man driving the car in wife was in when she was killed. Martin J. Smothers is a defense attorney his newest case is to defend Peter Shadd, an escaped con who is on trial for murdering a fellow escapee. The trial is going badly; there are only two jurors who think Shadd is innocent. One is Billy and the other is suddenly dead. Arsenault is a very good writer. He takes his experience as a newspaper journalist and editor and provides us with very human characters who captured my interest from the start. These are people you can see and know and with them comes humor and pathos arising from situations rather than "the joke." I particularly enjoyed his ability to have really two primary protagonists and weave them together but without having them directly interact until the very end. The plots and subplots were interesting and each worked. I've enjoyed his previous works and he is now on my auto-buy list. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Diane Kasperski

Mark Arsenault has a winner in Grave Writer. Billy Povich was an award winning investigative reporter until his world fell apart. His ex-wife was killed in an auto accident. Even though they had been divorced for 5 years Billy still thought of her as his wife. He is now in way over his head with gambling debts and now rather than being a leading reporter he writes obits for the paper where he was once an ace reporter. Billy gets called for jury duty and is placed on a murder case. It is supposed to be very cut and dried. Judging on circumstantial evidence it should be an easy conviction. Billy and one other juror, Alec, think that there is more to this crime than the circumstantial evidence. Then mid-trial Alec supposedly commits suicide. Billy's investigative instinct was kicking in before that but Alec's unexpected death clinched it. Billy does what he does naturally to find out what the truth is about the two deaths. The tension and suspense start at the beginning and continue throughout Grave Writer. Between Billy's past demons and his current situation which is precarious as a juror, the story is very intense. The characters have real flaws, worries and problems making them very real. I haven't read any books by Mark Arsenault in the past but I definitely plan to read all that he has written. It would be great to see the character of Billy Povich move on to other things using his natural intuitive instinct.

delightful legal thriller

In Providence, Rhode Island Daily Pen obit writer Billy Povich knows his gambling habit has cost him plenty. His wife Angie left him before she died in a car accident; he feels grief and guilt as he shares a residence with his father and his son. He owes loan sharks plenty that a busted leg or knee cap will not come close to paying off his gambling debt. Feeling helpless, he plots to kill retired cop Charles Maddox, who he blames for Angie's death as he drove the police car involved in the deadly accident that claimed her life. However, Billy is sidetracked from his murderous musings when he is called to serve as a juror on the homicide trial of Peter Shadd, who allegedly killed criminal Garrett Nickel when they escaped prison together. Politically motivated Assistant District Attorney General Ethan Dillingham has a perfect case against Shadd until defense attorney Martin Smothers begins poking tiny holes in it. Billy starts questioning whether Shadd is being set up, but is stunned when the only other doubting juror falls to his death and someone stalks him as if he is next. Combining humor with an urban noir, Mark Arsenault provides readers with a delightful legal thriller mostly from the perspective of a juror whose personal problems seem overwhelming as demons own his mind. The story line is action-packed once Billy begins to believe Shadd, a punk who he believes deserves the worst, might be innocent of this particular crime and never slows down as the hero assumes he is targeted for death by those who want to insure Shadd is convicted. Readers will enjoy this fine twisting Rhode Island thriller. Harriet Klausner