The Turquoise Dagger

By Donald J. Carpenter

Running a bookstore can be MURDER Derek and Camellia Collins own The Turquoise Dagger, a mystery bookshop in Arizona. When the television series, Famous American Mysteries, comes to town to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595437354
• ISBN13: 9780595437351
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A good mystery set in the Southwest

The Turquoise Dagger is a clever story, the basic village mystery transmogrified for the Southwest's particular blend of cultures, architecture, and scenery. Derek and Camellia Collins own the mystery bookstore (of the title) in a small Arizona town--not a major city. This enables the protagonists to know personally many of their fellow citizens--law enforcement personnel, newspaper people, and so forth--which allows them to occasionally take part in their investigations and research. The "private eye against the world" that is a staple of big-city mysteries is not a factor here, and that lets the story to develop as it must. The story is a good one: a big-time television show which focuses on mysteries comes to town to investigate a cold case, a decade-old double homicide. A large reward is offered to help crack the case (and generate viewership) and the bookstore owner and his graphic designer wife find themselves drawn in as a publicity stunt. As those familiar with the genre would expect, fresh homicides begin piling up, everyone suspects everyone else, and only Derek, the redoubtable mystery bookstore owner, is able to sort out the confusing clues to head the case toward the solution. The story builds to a satisfying climax and concludes with the obligatory unraveling. References to existing authors and mysteries will gratify fans of the genre, though the story is not as densely textured as, for example, John Dunning's Bookman tales, which also are built around bookstores and books. Still, as an example of its type, The Turquoise Dagger is a nicely plotted tale. It is also, unfortunately, an example of the results of relying on a spell-checker for one's editing. That's a guess, but many inappropriate homophones sneak into the text, and punctuation and stylistic stumbles are common. Those derailed this reader time after time, interrupting the pleasure of immersing oneself in a fine, puzzling yarn. Other readers might sail over these, and if so, they should thoroughly enjoy The Turquoise Dagger.

The Turquoise Dagger

The Turquoise Dagger is murderously fun! Nice characters, cute cocker spaniel, betrayal, a fun murderous plot and a deee-lish twist! I'm looking forward to more titles from Mr. Carpenter.