Title: La Jolla Shores Murders
Subtitle: A Bishop Bone Mystery
Author: Robert Rogers
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1983070167
Pages: 422
Genre: Mystery
Reviewed by: Jake Bishop
Hollywood Book Review
A reader unfamiliar with Robert Rogers’ work, might assume by the subtitle that this is a tome about a clergyman who solves crimes. Crimes are definitely unraveled within these pages, and indeed by Bishop Bone. But Bishop is not a religious title. It is simply Mr. Bone’s first name. In fact, Bishop is about as far from a man of the cloth as one can get. He’s a lawyer. At this writing, there are eight Bishop Bone Murder Mysteries, and if the other seven are as intriguing as this one, mystery buffs would do well to look into them.
In this chronicle, Bone finds himself rubbing elbows, and sometimes throwing them, at the well-heeled inhabitants of La Jolla, California. In this sun streaked village where waves kiss the shore and occasionally have to ask permission to lap near outrageously priced abodes, Bone attempts to help a former client save face. He agrees to escort a recent divorcee to a party that will be attended by the woman’s ex-husband and his current squeeze. The party ends rather abruptly with a hatchet in the head of the hostess and Bone in the middle of a mystery that’s just beginning.
Soon another murder occurs, as does blackmail, robbery, and various attempts to stop Bone’s meddling after he agrees—for a fee, of course—to look into the killings at the behest of a wealthy set of the enclave’s inhabitants. The local police are not thrilled with his involvement. Nor apparently are the perpetrators, who set out to pummel him into changing his mind. When that doesn’t work, more lethal methods are employed. But Bone is not dissuaded and before long clues lead to hunches that lead to ideas that lead to traps that lead to increasingly dangerous situations.
Author Rogers seems very much at home in his protagonist’s skin. He invests Bone with exceptional intelligence, penetrating insight, loyalty, honesty, and enough humanity to make you almost forget he’s an attorney. Supporting characters are fully formed and come across as interesting individuals in their own right as opposed to stilted stock players. Of particular note is Dr. Hargill, a tough old broad with a salty tongue who was a feminist before the word was invented. She decries the hypocrisy of the environs’ denizens and administers to Bone’s aches and pains when he shows up seeking medical help, information, or just an opinion not cloaked in obfuscation.
Roger’s plot and its tributaries are appropriately complex. Before novel’s end, all loose ends have been credibly knotted. This is a confident author working at a high skill level. Mystery fans will do well to engage Bishop Bone for excitement and intrigue. You might even want to put him on retainer.