The Fugitive King (Professor Simon Shaw)

Instead, this turned out to be a well written, very well researched little story with interesting characters, not nauseatingly cozy, and generally a good read. The plot is not predictable, the humor is light (yet occassionally scathing) and the characters are neither flat nor over-the-top. Fans of Sharon McCrumb's NC books and Margaret Maron's Debra Knox ("Bootlegger's Daughter") will like this book.

Shaber manages to interlace some history without being pendantic, contrived or annoying (as in those Anne Perry books explaining Victorian life). The back story about Melungeons is fascinating.

Shaber also knows her North Carolinians. The jab at the owner of the Mercedes SUV (from Charlotte, where else? What other kind of idiot takes a Mercedes off-roading?) who was upset that there was a scratch on his finish will amuse anyone who's ever spent time in a mountain town in NC during the summer season.

A great read for the beach, and especially, the mountains. And no follow-up guilt over allowing your brain to rot during vacation!


Couldn't put it down...   June 21, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I picked up this book to pass a few minutes, and wound up unable to put it down. The characters were varied and well-presented allowing them to all fit comfortably into the story. The setting, the Blue Ridge Mountains, is an area full of legends and stories that boosted the storyline. All in all, I read it in one day and wish I had another in the series to start right now. It's one of those books where the characters are so well-done you don't want to lose touch with them.


Couldn't put it down...   June 21, 2003
I picked up this book to pass a few minutes, and wound up unable to put it down. The characters were varied and well-presented allowing them to all fit comfortably into the story. The setting, the Blue Ridge Mountains, is an area full of legends and stories that boosted the storyline. All in all, I read it in one day and wish I had another in the series to start right now. It's one of those books where the characters are so well-done you don't want to lose touch with them.


A Witty Cozy Mystery!   January 11, 2003
I read it and never laughed out loud as I have at some cozy books, but I sure did smile a lot. Simon is a likeable fellow and it was a great book.


Fun and clever mystery   January 5, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Simon Shaw has achieved some notoriety as a "forensic historian"; that is, a history professor who has a knack for solving really, really cold murder cases by examining them from a historian's perspective. Now a convicted murderer who has read about Simon escapes from prison and takes Simon hostage. He demands that Simon investigate the decades-old murder for which he is serving a life sentence. He did confess, the convict says, but the confession was beaten out of him.

After this exciting opening, Simon manages to get the guy to give himself up. Nothing much happens for the next 70 pages or so as Simon half-heartedly looks into the matter while dealing with his shaky relationship with his non-committal girlfriend, Julia, and his university students desperate for passing grades. But after reading some old newspapers and talking to a couple of people, he decides something about the 1958 murder is out of whack. And since it took place near his hometown of Boone, North Carolina, and since he needs to get away for a while, the old murder is a perfect excuse to pay a visit to his relatives.

The plot doesn't really get rolling until about halfway through the book, but it didn't seem to matter too much. The characters are engaging and amusing, Simon is likable and very human, and the novel has a sharp sense of place that makes me homesick for my mother's cooking. The family relationships have a ring of truth to them that makes this book a fun read, and the solution to the mystery was satisfying and clever without being outlandish.