San Juan Solution

by R.E. Derouin

Ex-police detective David Dean, his new wife and stepfather have just opened Bird Song, a bed and breakfast in beautiful Ouray, Colorado. When their first guest turns up dead, and the second fears she... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1890437522
• ISBN13: 9781890437527
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Western Reflections Publishing Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

San Juan Solution

Retired east coast police detective, David Dean, is at it again-sleuthing, that is. This time he is accompanied by his beautiful new wife, Cynthia, together with an off-beat ensemble cast of characters led by irrepressible mystery fan, Fred O'Conner, Dean's stepfather. The Deans and O'Conner are the new proprietors of Bird Song, a bed and breakfast in the charming, Victorian town of Ouray, Colorado. When their first guest turns up murdered and the second is missing, David Dean is irrepressibly drawn into a scam that involves a wronged widow, suit-and-tied, pipsqueak attorney, tent-dwelling heir to a fortune and a net-surfing cook with a dog named Brutus. Oh, and a legacy of a hundred million bucks, give or take a million or so. The reader is drawn into the tale, gently at first, then with increasing speed and complexity, much like riding a carnival carousel, where the painted horses whirl faster and faster. Newer, and more bizarre characters, pop out of the woods and the woodwork with increasing frequency. A crutch-toting, inebriated movie star moves into Bird Song's back bedroom. The widow's fake-French boytoy camps out nearby, waiting to start a new hustle with whichever legally recognized "daughter" gets the millions. And Bird Song fills up with lawyers, heirs and contestants to the will of a man who could not have fathered any of the daughters. The setting is stunning. And, mystery author Ray Derouin, a part-time resident of Ouray and owner of a toy store there, presents the San Juan country well, giving it a sense of character nearly as strong as protagonist David Dean. "San Juan Solution" is fun read, with lots of action, zany characters and great scenery. It's a good book to curl up on the couch with on a snowy evening.

So good it needs a sequal

After fifteen years on the Parkside, Pennsylvania police force, Officer David Dean retires. Almost immediately after that, David marries Cynthia Byrne. With those two radical moves to jolt his equilibrium, David makes it a trio of lifestyle events when he, Cynthia, and his stepfather Fred O?Connor move to Ouray, Colorado where they plan to run Bird Song Bed and Breakfast. Although the B & B is not ready yet for the public, Fred rents the room of David and Cynthia to a guest and his own room to a second guest. However, someone kills their first guest and their second guest expects to be the next victim. Though the cop can leave the police force, police work never leaves the cop and with a little nudging from Fred, David begins to investigate what happened to his guest. The mystery of SAN JUAN SOLUTION is fun to watch as it unwinds like the mountain paths that the transplanted easterners trek. The lead trio is a hoot, especially Fred and his ability to manipulate everyone and the support cast provides either trouble or local color to the terrific tale. As with the first tale (see the delightfully wacky TIME TRIAL), R.E. Derouin?s novel pays homage to the Colorado Rockies. Readers will feel as if they are hiking the trail along side of David and Cynthia. Mr. Derouin is two for two with both of his Dean novels being outstanding and a ?tri-quel? needed for fans of the series.Harriet Klausner

David Dean is Back!

To me, trying to lay aside an unfinished David Dean mystery is like trying to eat just one homemake chocolate chip cookie. It can't be done. This is Ouray, Colorado author Ray Derouin's second mystery in what one can only hope will be another in a long series. For the reader not familiar with Derouin, suffice it to say he is no stranger to the written word. He has written twelve plays, all of which have won national awards. His first mystery, Time Trial: A Mountain Mystery, has garnered wide spread acclaim. Thus, it was with much delight and anticipation that I received San Juan Solution. I thought his first mystery was wonderful, and it was, but this latest offering is off the scale. The protagonist, ex-Pennsylvania police detective David Dean, is back with a new bride and his indispensable, unforgettable stepfather, Fred O'Connor. The setting is the incomparably beautiful Ouray, Colorado and the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. Dean, along with his wife and stepfather, have just opened a bed and breakfast, named Bird Song, and plan to enjoy a leisurely life far away from the crime ridden east coast. Unfortunately for the trio, but fortunately for the reader, Derouin's magic and diabolic mind begins to weave a story guaranteed to please the most avid mystery fan. It seems the first guest of Bird Song ends up alone at the bottom of a mountain side ravine in his car...strapped in the passenger seat. What happened to the driver? one might ask. What driver? A good question and, well, somewhat of a mystery. This, in the hands of Derouin, is reason enough to read on. However, it seems the second guest is missing and there is reason to believe her life might also be in danger. A coincidence you say? Perhaps, but the rapid arrival of a host of characters all making inquiries into the whereabouts of the two makes for spellbinding reading. Oh, did I mention the search for an heir to a fortune, which may explain some of these coincidences? This is vintage Derouin but better, much better, than anything he had done before. Having lived in the San Juan Mountain area of Colorado I can assure the reader that the setting is authentic. In addition, the characters are believeable and the writing style is first rate. It is not until the last few pages that the mystery(s) are solved and, in his wonderful style, the loose ends are tied into a honeymoon bouquet, so to speak. If you haven't met David Dean and friends, this is your best chance. It is a delightful book.

Dean does it again

In his first novel, Time Trial, Derouin introduced his winsome police detective, David Dean, who was house-sitting in the Colorado mountains while recuperating from a gunshot wound he'd sustained back home in Pennsylvania. Since his peace and quiet was soon shattered by a parade of fascinating characters who dragged him into a plot involving an alleged time machine, you might have thought that as soon as that mystery was solved, Dean would have gone home to Pennsylvania and stayed there. But now, in San Juan Solution, here he is, back in those very same mountains. It seems that he liked the Colorado lifestyle so much, he's returned with his new wife, Cynthia, and his father-in-law, Fred O'Connor, to run a bed and breakfast in Ouray. That could easily have been the happy ending of Time Trial, but since it's the beginning of this new novel, we expect more trouble, and we get it. In fact, before Dean's establishment is officially open for business, his father-in-law has already registered two guests, one of whom quickly winds up dead. So even though Dean has retired from police work in Pennsylvania, there's no way that he can avoid becoming involved in this new adventure. Once again, Derouin's characters think fast and talk tough, and Fred O'Connor is as sharp and colorful an old geezer as you're likely to meet anywhere.Derouin is also an Easterner who moved west, and his love of his new home is so evident in his careful descriptions of the mountains surrounding Ouray that the landscape itself almost becomes part of the plot. All in all, this second David Dean adventure is so lively and intriguing that someday I may have to leave my flatland Florida home and make a visit to Colorado. If I do, however, and someone invites me to take a ride on those winding mountain roads with their breathtaking dropoffs, I'm not going!

More Mountain Mystery

Derouin equals his first, excellent, mystery with compelling plot, engaging characters and an outcome that almost seems at hand throughout, yet will surprise and delight.For those who've enjoyed the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado the book will be bring special pleasure, but whether you've been there or not you're sure to enjoy this book to the end ... and wish there were yet more pages when you get there!Derouin's next book, "Mountain Ice" should be out by summer of 2001, and we'll be anxiously looking for it.