Valley of Bones

Interweaving 3 threads which quickly coalesce, Gruber ostensibly presents a murder mystery about the man murdered in the first few pages. By the end, the story turns on its side to be about the accused perp. The historical base of the Sisters of the Blood of Christ and the budding romance between Detective Paz and Lorna, a psychologist involved in the case are the other threads. An underlying spirituality, partially Christian and partially Santaria rock the players. Towards the end, an old, skillful dective is brought in to explain things. The denouement is not totally believable, but Gruber swept me along the whole way. ( )

Who isEmmylou Dideroff? A saint, a sinner, a mentally ill woman or just a criminal looking for forgiveness. A young police man and a psychologist trace Emmylou's past through her four books that represent her confession. Voodoo , the Catholic Church and local police all provide a story with ends with the sense that there is more to come. If you read Brown, Ilges, or Neville, you'll want to add this title to your reading list. ( )

I didn't like this quite as much as Gruber's first novel, Tropic of Night. This installment was not as tightly plotted, and after a VERY long, slow build-up, the ending felt rushed and was not entirely satisfying. I still plan on seeking out Gruber's other novels, however. ( )

In Miami, a man is hit on the head and thrown from a hotel balcony. When the homicide detective, Paz, goes up to investigate, he finds a woman, Emmylou Dideroff, in the room. She is in a trance, speaking to St. Catherine of Siena, which qualifies her to the detective as both a wacko and a likely murderer. This seems confirmed when they find a bloody weapon on the balcony with Emmylou's fingerprints all over it. She even has a likely motive but denies committing the murder. This is not as open and shut as it seems as Jimmy Paz pursues clues that lead to the international oil market, a FBI watch list, and missionaries in the Sudan.

Aside from the intricate mystery there is the spiritual factor. Emmylou claims to have communion with the devil which leads to her being put in a mental institution where, at the detective's request, she begins writing a confession. However, her confession is more along the lines of St. Augustine's Confessions ... and soon she is filling four notebooks with the story of her life. At this point we meet Lorna Wise, a psychiatrist who is determining Emmylou's fitness for trial. Both Wise and Paz have actual moments of seeing the devil that Emmylou has mentioned but they manage to lie to themselves. Little doubt is left to the reader, though, that what they are experiencing is real. Strange personality changes start coming over Paz who is beginning to wonder if he is possessed and then shaking off the feeling. I am screaming to him, "Wake up and smell the coffee! YES, yes you are!" Obviously this is no ordinary mystery.

Along the way we see Wise's various insecurities, Paz's Cuban-American world and how he relates to the "white" world, insights into police detecting, how men and women relate to each other, and so much more. Most of all, there is a strong spiritual thread throughout that is interesting in itself as each character responds in their own way. This all is being told through four points of view: the detective, the psychiatrist, Emmylou's confessions, and pages from the book Faithful Unto Death: The Story of the Nursing Sisters of the Blood of Christ by Sr. Benedicta Cooley. As I read further I began to see that these are all showing various ways of conversion, of openness to God. This feeling is intensified when we meet Paz's former partner, a strong evangelical Christian who is not afraid to share his faith. Most unusual for a mystery of this sort.

This may sound like a jumble of information but that is part of what makes this book so very interesting. The author is a masterful writer who makes everything come together naturally.

Make no mistake, it is a gritty, adult mystery and has sexual content that may offend some readers, so far most of which is in Emmylou's confessions. However, any offensive content has been relayed with such a lack of passion or detail that I didn't find it bothersome. ( )

Valley of Bones is an unconventional murder mystery/thriller with a supernatural charge. Miami Detective Jimmy Paz teams up with buxom psychologist Lorna Wise to unravel the truth behind the gruesome murder and defenestration of a Sudanese war criminal. The key to the story is Emmylou Didderoff, a downhome gal who's certainly a sinner but maybe also a saint.

I thoroughly enjoyed Gruber's mix of strong characterization, multiple narrative perspectives, and quick pace. What makes the book special is how seriously the supernatural is considered; there are no stereotypes amongst the believers here -- indeed, they're by far the most interesting and well-rounded characters. This is a rarity in contemporary fiction, and to be lauded, especially when it's done as well as it is here. ( )