The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

                To be honest, I tried to put this book back.  I didn't have enough time for ANOTHER book.  I still have three on my nightstand.  Not counting the Kindle. 

                But as our daughter was happily situated in the children's corner: shoes off, lounging on the horse and the bean bags and surrounded by Scaredy Squirrel books (really fun kids books, by the way), I wandered the stacks, and somehow found this.   I read the first couple pages, the liner, the back and thought, "Sure, why not?"   

                But I got nervous when I saw the stack of books piling up before me, and  I actually put this book down.  Another time.  Still, I couldn't shake it.  Something about it, stuck in my head and I picked it back up, and put something else back.  Give it a try.  Nothing lost if I return it unread, unfinished.   So I tried it again when we got home, and I didn't put it down for about an hour and a half - a pretty good report for a book I wrote off as a maybe.    Don't you love those surprises? I sure do. 

                 In a nutshell, Joe Talbert is a college student and he has a problem.  Truth be told, he has LOTS of problems: drug addict mother;  Jeremy his autistic younger brother who he tries to take care of because their mother doesn't;  Lila the girl he thinks he likes; and a very big writing project for his biography class: Write the biography of a complete stranger.  So, Joe Talbert goes to the old folks home, and finds someone that doesn't get visitors and hopes for the best.    Who he gets is Carl Iverson:  convicted murderer of a fourteen year old girl, who has been paroled from prison because he's dying of pancreatic cancer.      When Carl agrees to tell Joe his story, his honest death bed confession, Joe is nowhere near ready for the story that follows.  Even worse: he's not ready to begin to question the conviction of what was believed to be an open and shut case.    

                I don't do spoilers, but wow.  Just wow.  Go read this

                  I love a good mystery.  I love Inspector Lewis; Endeavour;  Case Histories; The Escape Artist.  That kind of thing.  (Those are all Masterpiece Theater/BBC shows available on Netflix, or Amazon.  All are worth your time and while.  The Library even has some of the Inspector Lewis seasons.  :)   The Life We Bury  by Allen Eskens  fits right in there.  It's thrilling, well written, compelling, and more than anything else, it tells a great story.  

                Now, I know that some people don't do mysteries or murder mysteries because of the MURDER part of it.  some mysteries or crime stories can be gratuitous with blood and gore.  Lots of details,  chilling images.  That kind of thing.  I don't do that.  I can't handle those things.  When I first watched Silence of the Lambs (it was on TV) I couldn't watch TV for a couple days because I thought Hannibal Lector was going to come out of the screen and get me.    Irrational?  Yes.  But did the images and stories stick with me?  Yes.    I have to be careful.  So I don't do gore and gross. 

                This book doesn't do that.  The crime scene descriptions are objectively shown through court documents, or the photos used in the case.  The images aren't lingered on.  It's not Dickens.  There's a couple scenes that are recalled in a memories by a main character.  It's important to see them and hear them, But again, it's not gratuitous.  It's not lingered on.  It's acknowledged and shown as it is a part of the story that is necessary, but then we move on. 

                As far as murder mysteries go, as far as books go,  this is excellent.  But clear out a day, because it's not going to let you do anything else.  It's not overly literary.  It's not going to make you work too hard.  It's not going to use words that you have to look up in the dictionary.   But the plainness of the language, and the tightness of the writing makes it more compelling.  It's perfect for a beach read, a weekend read, airplane, or just to try something different. 

                Recommendation:  quick, surprisingly satisfying.  Watch for the author's next book.