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Lynda Douglas Synopsis & Reviews Pg 2
Clearcut
by
Lynda Douglas
Murder in a National Forest
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REVIEWS
Claire Mitchell Evers and her husband Kyle leave
their jobs with the Forest Service behind while they
honeymoon in North Carolina.  There is more behind
the trip than romance, though.  Claire wants to search for her family roots in the communities around Asheville.  She soon discovers more is hidden in the mountains of Appalachia than her long lost relatives.
    A Native American girl is dead and their friend, Hank Sawyer, a fellow Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer, is accused of her murder.  Someone goes to great lengths to place the blame squarely on Hank's shoulders.  Kyle must risk everything to save his friend.
    The lines between Claire's search for her family and her husband's search for a murderer keep crossing, muddying up the facts.  An attempt on Claire's life seems to be tied to the murder investigation.  The question is why?  ...Unless the killer is closer to home than they think.
$13.50 Tradesize Paperback
ISBN: 1-932695-13-3
Rated M (Mature)
$23.00 Set of Deadfall and Clearcut
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Lynda Douglas skillfully merges Claire Mitchell's honeymoon with her personal quest for family roots, and her protection of a Native American friend who is being framed for murder, all in the setting of a gorgeous National Forest. A delightful read.


---Jeanne Marie Childe
Owner/Editor
NovelAdvice.com



Clearcut by Lynda Douglas is a taunt tale of family loyalty and murder told
in the clear voice of someone who is very familiar with the USDA's Forest
Service.  Douglas keeps the reader guessing from beginning to end.

--Jan Christensen, author of "Sara's Search"


BOOK REVIEW:
CLEARCUT
By Lynda Douglas
(Treble Heart Books: $13.50)
ISBN 1932695133
Reviewed by: Patricia Ann Jones, book reviewer for Tulsa World Newspaper

"The black shape of Ripshin Mountain loomed against a darkening horizon. This place wasn't likely to be logged and the Forest Service no longer maintained the nearby hiking trail . . . He couldn't have asked for a better place to hide a body. It might never be found."
The killer was right, but the best laid plans, as we all know, usually fall through. Seven years after the burial of a young Indian woman's body on Ripshin Mountain a major blow-down brought loggers to the mountain to clearcut the damaged trees.
The plane carrying Claire and Kyle Evers from their home in Portland, Oregon to Asheville, North Carolina prepared for landing. Claire and Kyle's visit to the Asheville area has a twofold purpose. One, is to help Claire regain her memory lost after a near-death experience at the age of ten. By visiting her deceased parent's home place and possibly finding surviving relatives she feels recovery is a real possibility. The second is for Kyle to reunite with an old friend, Hank Sawyer, an Indian policeman with the Forestry Service. The last thing on Claire and Kyle's minds is to become embroiled in a murder investigation.
Then, Hank is arrested as the prime suspect in the murder of the woman found on Ripshin Mountain. Friend or not, Kyle, as a senior investigator of criminal affairs with the National Forestry Service, has no choice but to become involved in the case.
The lines between Claire's search for her family and her husband's search for a murderer keep crossing, muddying up the facts. An attempt on Claire's life seems to be tied to the murder investigation. The question is why? Unless . . . the killer is closer to home than they think.
Douglas' love of nature shows in her writing. Her novel, DEADFALL, set in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest and CLEARCUT, its sequel, set in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest, grew from her experiences in those environs.
Douglas' natural flare for dialogue is a major asset in her work. Her characters are deftly drawn not only with perfect physical descriptions, but with speech patterns using local dialects. Her choice of sympathetic players makes "Clearcut" more suspenseful as the plot develops and flows to an unexpected resolution. The use of specific details in the preservation of our National forests is informative and extremely interesting. Rather than intruding into the story, they become an integral part of the whole.
The author's stories have appeared in Murderous Intent Mystery magazine, and others. Her novella, "Lilacs and Lace," won the 2001 Derringer Award for best mystery novella, and she was a finalist in the previous year's competition with "Blind Justice."
Douglas is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She and her family make their home in southern Arizona.
Copyright Patricia Ann Jones

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