Fiddle Game

by Richard A. Thompson

Overview

Herman Jackson has chosen St. Paul as his place of permanent exile from Detroit, where his former life as a bookie got too hot to hold. Now he leads a respectable, low-profile life as a bail bondsman, selling second chances to losers and looking over his shoulder. When a young woman named Amy Cox leaves Jackson a priceless antique violin as security for her brother's bail bond, it's really the beginning of an elaborate con game. But the game is barely underway when she is brutally murdered in front of Jacksons office. And for reasons that make no sense, the police are calling him the prime suspect. That is, unless he gives them the violin as evidence. With his criminal past, Jackson can't afford to be a prime suspect for jaywalking. But neither is he prepared to give in to extortion. Soon he is on the road and on the run, trying to solve Amy Cox's murder, pursued by one real and one crooked cop, a band of urban Gypsies who claim to have first rights to the violin, and an unknown killer who also wants Jackson dead. Nobody is who he claims to be, nothing is what it seems, and the violin, which is reputed to carry a 400-year-old curse, begins to take on a life of its own. While Jackson tries to sort it all out, the killing continues, and suddenly his old life back in Detroit doesn't look so dangerous at all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615952168
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Series:	Herman Jackson Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	249
Sales rank:	448,375
File size:	693 KB

About the Author

Richard Thompson is a former civil engineer and construction manager who traded his hard hat for a laptop and now writes full time. His first novel, Fiddle Game, was short-listed for a Debut Dagger award, and Frag Box was a finalist for the 2010 Minnesota Book Award. He is also the author of a standalone historical mystery, Big Wheat. He lives in Minnesota with his wife of 45 years and two neurotic cats.

Editorial Reviews

"A good plot, interesting characters, a great backdrop, a cursed violin, a crooked cop, and good writing. What more can a reader want? Hopefully, this is the first of a series." --Bookloons

Book loons

"Great action, coupled with fascinating bits of violin history, lore, and craftsmanship."

Book List

This uneven debut introduces bail bondsman Herman Jackson, who sees nothing unusual when a woman calling herself Amy Cox comes to his office to arrange bail for her brother. She offers her violin as collateral, claiming it's an Amati worth $60,000 or more. Shortly after handing over the instrument to Jackson and getting a replacement from a nearby pawn shop, Amy is killed and the loaner stolen. Thus begins a wild, extravagant bait-and-switch. To get to the bottom of Amy's death and figure out who's conning him, Jackson must go back 60 years to learn the full story of the violin. The most charming character is a brassy waitress, Rosie, who plays Watson to Jackson's Holmes. Jackson himself is not especially well-developed, and the mystery would be stronger with fewer plot twists. Still, Jackson's location on the edge of the justice system is a good setup for a sequel, and with a bit of seasoning, Thompson may have a successful series on his hands. (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

A beleaguered bail bondsman, a storied violin and a shaggy dog of a fiddle. Herman Jackson wasn't always a bail bondsman in St. Paul, Minn. Circumstances over which he had limited control sent him scurrying out of Detroit, the law at his heels. Up until then he'd been a bookie with a name that wasn't Herman Jackson. In "the capital of Midwest nice," he finds life pleasant enough until the day a blonde shows up packing a violin. Her brother, she tells Herman, is in the lock-up. She wants him sprung and offers the violin as security for the requisite $18,000. It's an extremely valuable Amati, she declares. That may or may not be true, Herman discovers. So it is with pretty much everything Amy Cox has to say. She may or may not have a brother; she may or may not be Amy Cox; and the instrument may or may not be an Amati. It is, however, an authentic MacGuffin. Avidly on its trail are some seriously bent cops and some endlessly resourceful Gypsies. As for the alleged Amy Cox, she is very soon dead, leaving a perplexed Herman caught in the middle of a scam whose origins go back 50 years. Over-plotted, but the amiable protagonist and colorful supporting cast provide much compensation in Thompson's promising debut.

Kirkus Reviews

Thompson's convoluted story tells of a troubled bookie who is trying to avoid his shady past, only to fall straight into an elaborate and deadly con game. Trying to make sense of this plot is narrator Robertson Dean, who assumes the role of protagonist Herman Jackson. Dean’s voice, rich with character and mystery, gives the sense of a man with his fair share of secrets to tell. In this underplayed performance, Dean offers little in the way of improvisation and acting, opting instead to read the story in one gritty voice that tends to grate on the ears of the listener. As Jackson, Dean is perfect in his delivery, but his lack of variation for the supporting characters slows the story. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2008 - AudioFile