Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of The Blood of Tyrants by Peter S. Fischer. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
The Blood of Tyrants by Peter S. Fischer
Non-series
Grove Point Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-615-32455-X (061532455X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-615-32455-5 (9780615324555)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $15.95
Review: Peter S. Fischer, the creator/producer of the classic television series Murder, She Wrote, takes on the Washington political establishment in his first novel, the murder mystery thriller The Blood of Tyrants.
Disgraced reporter Paul Castelli has reinvented himself as Paul Castle, host of National Heartbeat, a cable television show that exists less to report the news than to make it. In what can only be described as the story of his career -- any reporter's career -- he inadvertently stumbles into the middle of a political firestorm that will soon rock the nation: the murders, some staged as accidents, of over a dozen of the country's most powerful representatives. Followed by homicide detective Aaron Kovacs and FBI agent Fowler Briggs, Castle tries to keep one step ahead of the authorities in an effort to put an end to the killings that are terrorizing the country.
The plot in The Blood of Tyrants is clearly satirical so it is easy to overlook how preposterous it is. Still, conspiracy theorists among any number of political groups will no doubt find something to pique their interest here. To be sure, the plot moves along rapidly, the characters well-developed without being too much like caricatures, and though the outcome is fairly predictable (the whodunit aspect is never in doubt), the path there is exciting nonetheless. The author, a familiar name in crime dramas, adds a little humor here and there with references to TV shows; here's a passage when Castle hits New York City to learn more about the murders: It all looked so easy on television when Rockford did it, or Kojak or Columbo. Nose around, ask a few questions, wave a few Andrew Jacksons about and the information spilled forth like water over Hoover Dam. Somehow these guys missed the Westin Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The way people were eyeing him, you'd think he was there to steal the silverware.
The reading experience is marred to some extent by rather sloppy editing, mostly typesetting issues, but also numerous misspelled words and missing punctuation. For an experienced screenwriter of this caliber, it seems incongruous in his debut novel.
Special thanks to Grove Point Press for providing a copy of The Blood of Tyrants for this review.
Review Copyright © 2010 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
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Synopsis (from the publisher): A crowded restaurant in Washington, D.C. A powerful Congressman is lunching with a wealthy contributor who suddenly rises and shoots the Congressman dead in front of a hundred witnesses. Quietly, he resumes his seat, placing the gun on the table as he awaits the authorities. Thus begins ten days of terror, ten days in which the nation teeters on the brink of anarchy.
Inadvertently drawn into this murderous conspiracy is Paul Castle, a once promising newspaper reporter, now the host of a third rate cable show that deals in sleaze and scandal. Castle suddenly finds himself a pawn in a series of bizarre murders that have gripped the nation in fear. Secretly aided by an avuncular New York homicide detective and hounded by an ambitious FBI agent, Castle seeks to get to the bottom of the mystery and in the process, regain his lost self-respect. With the future of the country at stake, he knows he cannot afford to fail.
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