May 1, 2006
In Hosp's lackluster second novel (after 2005's Dark Harbor
), Darius Train and Jack Cassian, a mismatched pair of D.C. detectives, investigate the throat-slashing murder of Washington Post
reporter Elizabeth Creay. The fortuitous crime-scene find of a cigarette lighter with a clear fingerprint leads the detectives to local drug dealer Jerome Washington. It's a tidy but far too convenient arrest. The commissioner of police is upset when Train and Cassian move on to a number of other suspects, some of them highly placed among the city's powerful ruling class. The heart of the murder may lie in the history of the American eugenics movement, "the science of controlling the gene pool—improving it, in theory—through selective breeding." The uncovering of long-buried secret experiments at the Virginia Juvenile Institute for the Mentally Defective, a state facility where thousands of people were once sterilized, results in more murders. The denouement is so murky that baffled readers will find themselves scratching their heads in dismay. 6-city author tour.
June 15, 2006
Hosp delivers another satisfying mystery, living up to the promise of his first novel, "Dark Harbor". This time he tells the story of Sydney Chapin, who returns to Washington to be closer to her family only to learn that her sister, Elizabeth, has been brutally murdered. Raised by a hugely wealthy family, the sisters had chosen to lead independent lives, Sydney attending law school and Elizabeth working as a reporter. Elizabeth's murder at first appears to have resulted from a break-in by a druggie looking for cash, but its true nature suggests itself after Sydney speaks to people Elizabeth saw during her final days. For help, Sydney turns to the detectives investigating the murder, but the true murderer seems always to be one step ahead of them. As the plot unfolds, the suspects range from a drug-dealing ex-convict to a presidential hopeful. Amid the political pressures of Washington, nothing is what it seems, and readers are left guessing until the very end -unless they've read Hosp's first novel and already know to expect the unB-expected! [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ "3/1/06.]" - Lisa O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs., Winnipeg"
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2006
When her sister is found brutally murdered, Sydney Chapin is drawn back into the vortex of her wealthy family. She's worried sick about her shy niece, Amanda, who found her mother's body, and even feels some sympathy for her steely mother, who is showing signs of vulnerability. Most of all, she wants to find out who murdered her sister and intends to fully cooperate with the two Washington, D.C., detectives assigned to the case--Darius Train, a towering former football star who grew up in one of the city's roughest sections, and his seeming polar opposite: boyish, suburban Jack Cassian. As the three work in tandem, the case leads them to a mental hospital known for its horrific eugenics experiments and then to a powerful cabinet member, all the while trying to fend off interference from wealthy, well-connected politicos. Hosp builds a fair amount of tension into his well-paced story line, but his tendency to have his characters verbally sum up key plot points and emotions seriously hinders the novel's flow. Compelling, extremely likable characters are the draw here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)