Briarpatch

A good ole boy turned sophisticated political operative in DC comes home for his cop sister's funeral. Somebody had it in for her, but who?

This Ross Thomas story combines whodunit, caper and spy thriller elements in a tight, sophisticated plot that never strays in spite of its considerable complexity. There are also well-drawn, vivid characters to spare here, with our protagonist's childhood 'asshole buddy', who's made a mint in covert ops and arms sales, the most memorable of the bunch.

Strong stuff; highly recommended.

Out of good stuff to read... I went whining into my bookshop "I need a new author," I whaled. (My shop is quite used to this and JB, the floor manager, keeps a mental list of whine stoppers.) I came home with Briarpatch. Since I wasn't in a great mood to start with, I didn't start this book with an open mind. I was pissed at the whole world of publishing. But, Ross Thomas and his characters sucked me in right away. Ben Dill has to find out who killed his police detective sister and why and he does. The setting is a thinly veiled Oklahoma City and the cast of characters is real and the story is gritty and I loved it. The added bonus is that I knew going in that this was not a series so I didn't know until the last word whether my now show more good friend, Ben Dill, was going to make it out alive. show less

We are introduced to Rusty/Felicity Dill as landlady and detective. Not two minutes after trying to collect on a late rent she is murdered by a car bomb outside of her building. Felicity's brother, Benjamin Dill, while on assignment for the Senate Subcommittee for a separate matter, comes back to his hometown to investigate her murder. In the midst of grieving for his sister Dill must confront his best and oldest friend who might be an illegal arms dealer. Apart from being a great whodunnit, Briarpatch is also a game of double and triple cross. It is hard to say who can and cannot be trusted.
While the reader does not know the exact location of Dill's hometown (somewhere in the Midwest is the guess), Thomas is sure to keep an eye on the show more thermometer. The constant high temperatures were almost another character in the story.
All in all, I felt that Thomas was hoping to have a trick ending; one crafty enough to surprise everyone. Unfortunately, he pulled back the curtain a little too far and a little too early in the plot. Thomas revealed too much for the ending to be much of a shock. show less

Ben Dill's sister, homicide detective and landlady, dies in a car bomb explosion. Bill takes some time off from his work for a Senator on a committee of some sort looking into political and intelligence skullduggery, to go and bury her and grieve and since this is a thriller maybe find her killer. Meantime he meets up with a very old friend who is one of the subjects of that investigation back in Washington and discovers that it looks very much like his sister was on the take, something Ben completely refuses to believe. The two plots twist and intertwine, skilfully blended by Thomas the master.

Well I can’t say that I was surprised. Partly because this is not my first Thomas and I know better than to trust what he tells me. He is king of the cross and double cross. Also it’s partly because I do read a lot of thrillers and many of the innovative techniques Thomas pioneered have been adopted countless times by other authors. The unreliable narrator is one. The veritable briarpatch of characters with dubious motivations is another.

But that’s not what Thomas means by briarpatch. What he means here is a thicket of protection founded up on secrets and blackmail. Ben’s old friend Jake Spivey is trying to create his personal briarpatch in their hometown when Felicity is killed. Coincidentally, Ben is also working for a senate show more subcommittee who has an interest in Spivey; particularly his non-official record of activities in Vietnam on behalf of the CIA. So going home to investigate Felicity’s murder also serves up the opportunity to depose Spivey for the senator. In the end, Ben ends up with his own little briarpatch earned and compiled as a bitter result of Felicity’s death.

I really wish I could have read this fresh, without the jaded eye that comes from having read hundreds of thrillers and detective novels with unreliable narrators, duplicitous friends and conflicting motives. While the plot was interesting and the writing a joy to read, I was not surprised at Felicity’s double life and the identity of her killer. I was not surprised at the carelessness in which certain characters manipulated others. The dispassionate violence and scheming are all too common.

The ending though is typical Thomas. Open, ambiguous and ripe for the imagination. I do not wonder that Briarpatch won an Edgar award, but I do wish for a time machine. show less

Audiobook: A Briar Patch can be many things: a hiding place, a place to avoid (as in Star Trek), a thicket of prickly bushes, and a place where you can get all tangled up. Ben Gill experiences all of those things in this book.

Felicity Dill, homicide detective, collects rent due on her duplex, gets in her car, and is blown to bits. Her brother, Ben, is an investigator for a Senate subcommittee. He immediately flies down to his hometown where she worked and discovers a mystery. Felicity had paid $37,000 cash for a very expensive duplex several months earlier and just a few weeks before her death had taken out a $250,000 term life policy with her brother as the beneficiary. Where did she get the money, and why would a twenty-eight-year-old show more woman take out a life insurance policy that large. Ben soon discovers a quagmire of murder and corruption.

He’s also been sent to get a deposition from an old friend Jake Spivey, ex-CIA who is being pursued by Clyde Brattle. All three had been involved during the Ford administration with trying to locate a threesome, known as the Jaspers who had apparently made off with millions that had been dispensed by Nixon to the “plumbers.” Brattle and Spivey were also the targets of the subcommittee's investigation that involved weapons sales after Vietnam.

Ross is a very good writer with images like, “it had no color unless winter rain has color.” And while I have nothing against protagonists who hop into bed with every woman (or girl) they meet (you know, like Reacher) Ben has plenty of offers but the good sense to hold off since virtually everyone has some kind of alternate agenda. Everything is linked together as one might expect. The ending is a bit unsatisfying and perhaps a sequel was intended.

As usual, well read by Frank Muller, who regretfully is no longer with us. show less

Ben Dill, who works for a Senate subcommittee in Washington, D.C., gets a phone call from the chief of homicide in his home town. His younger sister, a homicide detective, has been killed by a car bomb. Ben flies to the unnamed city (which appears to be in Oklahoma or perhaps Kansas) and discovers many puzzling aspects to the case. With the help of his sister's lawyer and friend, the beautifully-named Anna Maude Singe, he begins investigating. In the process he meets up with a childhood friend who is also a person of interest to Ben's subcommittee. Byzantine intrigue has nothing on this political thriller. Fascinating characters and a setting that, although it is never named, is described in completely believable detail, add to this show more book's fine qualities which won it the Best Novel award for its year. The ending, however, was a bit inconclusive for my taste. show less