Recent reads

A Question of Identity, by Jonathan Rowe.

The publisher's imprint is from a publisher I'd never heard of, with a mailing address in Livonia, Michigan. I was predisposed to expect a story set in southeastern Michigan, with an assortment of mildly entertaining references to familiar places but no believable characters or plot and a grievous lack of copy editing.

Fortunately, my expectations were wrong. The story is indeed set in southeastern Michigan, and there are indeed plenty of references to Ann Arbor landmarks such as Zingerman's Deli, the university Quad, etc. But much to my surprise the book is also a well-written detective story with believable and sympathetic characters and a plausible, if convoluted, plot.

Our protagonist is David Fisher, a reporter for a sleazy tabloid that specializes in publishing embarrassing photographs of celebrities. While lurking outside a politician's office hoping for a chance to take a compromising photograph or two, Fisher witnesses the presentation of a strange gift, a bullet-scarred motorcycle helmet. One of the women present at the office clearly knows its history, and has some association with it. But he can't quite see who she is....

The helmet turns out to be a memento of a notorious act of violent activism that took place in the 1960s. It was worn by the only surviving participant of that crime, a woman who has been wanted by the police for thirty years. She disappeared without a trace... until now.

Of course no self-respecting fictional reporter can resist such a mystery, even a middle-aged hack working for a tabloid. Not even when the local cops have axes to grind. Not even when he's distracted by a troublesome attraction to an entirely inappropriate woman.

In addition to a satisfyingly twisty plot, the story has some moments of emotional resonance. Fisher's awkward and tentative romantic affair rings true, as do his rueful thoughts about it. So does the strange career of the fugitive woman, and the effect that her warped life has had on herself, her family, and everyone connected with her.

The publisher is small time, but Rowe's book is on a par with any mystery novel published by a large mainstream press.