Virtually Dead
by Peter May
Poisoned Pen Press, January 2010, $14.95

When our lives become too complicated, overrun with confrontations, debts and emotional turmoil, the desire to escape can be overwhelming. In Peter May’s entertaining Virtually Dead, a virtual world becomes preferable to reality for crime scene photographer Michael Kapinsky.

Michael’s life is in chaos. The death of his wealthy wife has left him grief-stricken, depressed and in debt. While his wife, Mora, had inherited millions, her lavish lifestyle and a legal battle with the family of her first husband has left Michael an inheritance of overdue bills and a staggering mortgage. He begins to find solace in the virtual world called Second Life, which his therapist suggests as a kind of group therapy.

There, his avatar is moviestar handsome Chas Chesnokov, a fearless agent of the Twist of Fate Detective Agency. But the virtual and real

Peter May, photo by Domi Photographe

worlds collide when both the the avatars and their real life counterparts start being murdered. Chas and an exotic dancer avatar begin an investigation that centers on greed and control.

May (The Enzo Files) keeps a firm hand as Virtually Dead alternates between Michael’s real-life struggles and his avatar’s fantasy life. The plot moves briskly with surprise twists and a believable conclusion. May not only makes Michael a sympathetic, likable character, but also imbues Chas with a solid personality and a fearlessness that makes him a true hero. Online you can be whoever or whatever you want to be as May believably shows.

Reviewed by Oline H. Cogdill

More from Mystery Scene and this author

• Chinese Whispers (October 2009), Peter May, review by Hank Wagner
• The Killing Room (February 2008), Peter May, review by Beverly DeWeese
• The Critic (November 2007), Peter May, review by Charles L. P. Silet
• Purchase Virtually Dead at Amazon.com

Bellfield Hall
by Anna Dean
Minotaur Books, February 2010, $23.99

Capitalizing on the perennial popularity of Jane Austen-inspired books, Anna Dean has written a subtle mystery certain to appeal to the Austen in all of us. As one might suspect, marriage, misperception, and perfidy are major themes in Bellfield Hall, a historical with currency for present-day readers. Dean employs first-person narration, which creates for readers a sense of immediacy and a vested interest in the novel’s clever narrative threads.

Narrator Dido Kent, a woman well past the first blush of youth, travels to Bellfield Hall to assist her niece, Catherine, who is engaged to Richard Montague, heir apparent to the estate. For Dido the match seems suspicious since her niece is neither propertied nor titled. Even more suspicious, though, is Richard’s renunciation of the engagement after the silent appearance of a visitor and his hasty, inexplicable departure from the engagement party. Catherine remains convinced that Richard still loves her, even after the corpse of a young woman surfaces outside the mansion, leading some to attribute the murder to Richard. It remains for Dido to discover where Richard is hiding, why he fled, and who murdered the young woman—a tall order for anyone. As is universally true, Dido’s perceptions are necessarily limited, so despite her astute sleuthing, she doesn’t see the truth immediately. Fortunately, though, she doesn’t remain clueless for long. One hopes to see Dido soon in a welcome reprise to this masterful mystery. Austen fans, rejoice!

Reviewed by Lynne Maxwell

More from Mystery Scene and this author

• Read the first chapter of Bellfield Hall at the publisher’s site.
• Purchase Bellfield Hall at Amazon.com