The Body in the Record Room
by Joe Barone
St. Martin’s Minotaur, October 2008, $24.95

Reviewed by Sue Emmons

The inmates are truly running the asylum in this debut mystery set in the 1950s in a time when mental institutions were largely self-sustaining. One thousand acres of farmland surround the facility where a patient who believes he’s Roy Rogers. Roy, along with his sidekick Harry, and his dog Bullet, dig deep into the murder of a man found slain in the titular record room. What they discover connects to an unsolved killing that occurred 20 years ago in a nearby church. Their winding investigation visits many facets of the 2,000-patient institution—from sacred to secular. It also raises passions among local townspeople who are none too happy to have the institution in their midst.

With a lot of help from his friends, Roy uncovers clues that lead to the solution of both murders. The author draws on an intimate knowledge of these large mental institutions, which have largely now disappeared, from when he was raised on the grounds of one where his father served as superintendent. That background serves both him and his reader well, while introducing characters who would be a welcome return in any future outings.

The Borrowed and Blue Murders
by Merry Jones
St. Martin’s Press, September 2008, $24.95

Reviewed by Helen Francini

Single mother and bride-to-be Zoe Hayes suffers more than the usual case of pre-wedding jitters when a grisly corpse appears on her back porch eight days before she is to marry detective Nick Stiles. Things go from bad to worse when Zoe almost gets hit by a car, and soon realizes that one of Nick’s three brothers, two of whom are staying in her house before the wedding, is connected to the murder. Zoe must juggle family members current and impending, a possibly psychotic babysitter, FBI agents, and deadly fallout from her job as an art therapist at Philadelphia’s Psychiatric Institute, while counting down the days to her march down the aisle.

Especially insightful is Zoe’s relationship with her 6-year-old daughter Molly, who is adjusting to having a baby brother for the first time in her young life. And although the first part of the book is more concerned with Zoe’s parental duties and her feelings about not knowing Nick’s family well, the horrifying murder takes center stage in the last half. As the story progresses, the mystery gathers steam towards a truly chilling climax that proves maternal instinct can be dangerous as well as nurturing.