After-Image

A Vicky Bauer Mystery

By (author) Leona Gom
Categories: Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Crime and mystery fiction, Fiction and Related items
Publisher: Sumach Press , Three O'Clock Press
Paperback : 9780929005911, 256 pages, June 1996

Description

A murder with no body...Of mixed Native and white heritage, fiercely independent and a graduate student in film studies, Vicky Bauer is far from the perfect wife for a school teacher working on a Canadian Armed Forces Base in Europe. Vicky has had the occasional minor scrape with military authorities, as well as an on-again, off-again drinking problem. So when Vicky claims she has seen a woman murdered, and the corpse cannot be found, no one believes her. Rather, they think she has imagined the whole episode - especially that the killer wore an armed forces uniform. But Vicky begins to uncover a complex web of secrets, illegal activities and plausible motives for murder. Suspects include her own husband, seemingly a bit too protective of the racist son of their landlord. There is also the base doctor who likes to keep military "dependants" tranquilized; the soldier harbouring a career-destroying secret; and the investigating lieutenant, suspiciously eager to dismiss Vicky's claims. When drug dealing, political extremism and homophobia become parts of the puzzle, Vicky realizes she is not simply a witness, but may be the next target.

Reviews

"Gom has written a beautiful book, one that combines a portrait of an anguished, broken spirit with the jolt of a spine-tingling thriller."- Winnipeg Free Press

"Merely competent murder mysteries make you turn their pages through plotting while good ones engross you because you're interested in the characters. After-Image is one of the good ones."-em Vancouver Courier