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Caroline Mabry #1
Riviermoorden
Na een verprutste drugsoperatie vindt de politie van Spokane aan de oever van de rivier die de stad in tweeën deelt, het lijk van een jonge prostituee. En kort daarop nog een, en nog een… Algauw zijn rechercheur Caroline Mabry en haar cynische superieur, Alan Dupree, verwikkeld in een speurtocht naar een seriemoordenaar die met elke moord brutaler lijkt te worden.
Tijdens een lange en moorddadige zomer blijven Caroline en Dupree telkens een stap achterlopen op een gek die lijkt te communiceren door vrouwen te vermoorden.
De speurtocht zal uiteindelijk naar de moordenaar leiden. Maar ook naar de diepste roerselen van zowel de man die wordt gejaagd als die van de jagers.
Caroline en Dupree ontkomen er niet aan enkele harde waarheden onder ogen te moeten zien omtrent hun stad, hun werk, en vooral : elkaar.
Tijdens een lange en moorddadige zomer blijven Caroline en Dupree telkens een stap achterlopen op een gek die lijkt te communiceren door vrouwen te vermoorden.
De speurtocht zal uiteindelijk naar de moordenaar leiden. Maar ook naar de diepste roerselen van zowel de man die wordt gejaagd als die van de jagers.
Caroline en Dupree ontkomen er niet aan enkele harde waarheden onder ogen te moeten zien omtrent hun stad, hun werk, en vooral : elkaar.
366 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Jess Walter
47 books2,272 followersJess Walter is the author of five novels and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages and his essays, short fiction, criticism and journalism have been widely published, in Details, Playboy, Newsweek, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe among many others.
Walter also writes screenplays and was the co-author of Christopher Darden’s 1996 bestseller In Contempt. He lives with his wife Anne and children, Brooklyn, Ava and Alec in his childhood home of Spokane, Washington.
Walter also writes screenplays and was the co-author of Christopher Darden’s 1996 bestseller In Contempt. He lives with his wife Anne and children, Brooklyn, Ava and Alec in his childhood home of Spokane, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
February 14, 2019
Another great novel by Jess Walter. I think this was his first work of fiction. It might be not as polished or perfect as a thriller by an experienced author, but Walter succeeded in writing a crime story that has at the same time a literary depth and an engaging, believable plot. Too often you find either one or the other, but not both elements in the same book. Characters are 3D sculptures, alive and breathing from the pages. You also have an original twist on the "typical cynical investigator who bends all the rules but in the end solves the case": here you have, in Dupree, a "cynical investigator who has a million theories and metaphors, but doesn't actually do much to help the investigation at all”.
One to read a little slower than your typical beach or flight thrillers.
One to read a little slower than your typical beach or flight thrillers.
October 9, 2019
I read this book – when it was initially published – almost ten years ago. I remembered it as a police procedural/mystery set in Spokane, Washington, with two interesting and flawed law enforcement protagonists tracking a serial killer.
My memory served me right, but in rereading Over Tumbled Graves I noted a not so subtle undercurrent in the writing and story-telling. Although this book has all the ingredients of the mystery/thriller genre, the finished product is not what I expected, i.e. the standard mystery/thriller outline is here, but not the script. This in hindsight, and after reading all of the author’s subsequent books, makes sense.
First the standard template. A serial killer is murdering prostitutes in Spokane. Young up and coming Detective Caroline Mabry and her mentor Alan Dupree – older, jaded, cynical and on his way out – are tasked with capturing this elusive murderer. While doing their jobs, both are wrestling with their separate consciences and commitments to duty – and their collective past – there’s a romantic link here. As the case fizzles, Dupree is replaced by a new shining star – who has all the credentials, but no experience. And to complete the picture two feuding criminal profilers are then brought in to “assist” with the case.
As the story proceeds the case and the mystery become secondary – although there is a neat little twist at the conclusion. Rather the above characters and their “journeys” becoming the primary focus. This is not a knock, just a subtlety I missed in the first reading. Being a Jess Walter book there are plenty of poignant moments, excellent dialogue and some laugh out loud moments. There’s also a great story here - much more than just a simple police procedural/mystery.
My memory served me right, but in rereading Over Tumbled Graves I noted a not so subtle undercurrent in the writing and story-telling. Although this book has all the ingredients of the mystery/thriller genre, the finished product is not what I expected, i.e. the standard mystery/thriller outline is here, but not the script. This in hindsight, and after reading all of the author’s subsequent books, makes sense.
First the standard template. A serial killer is murdering prostitutes in Spokane. Young up and coming Detective Caroline Mabry and her mentor Alan Dupree – older, jaded, cynical and on his way out – are tasked with capturing this elusive murderer. While doing their jobs, both are wrestling with their separate consciences and commitments to duty – and their collective past – there’s a romantic link here. As the case fizzles, Dupree is replaced by a new shining star – who has all the credentials, but no experience. And to complete the picture two feuding criminal profilers are then brought in to “assist” with the case.
As the story proceeds the case and the mystery become secondary – although there is a neat little twist at the conclusion. Rather the above characters and their “journeys” becoming the primary focus. This is not a knock, just a subtlety I missed in the first reading. Being a Jess Walter book there are plenty of poignant moments, excellent dialogue and some laugh out loud moments. There’s also a great story here - much more than just a simple police procedural/mystery.
July 19, 2014
A long time ago I spent time in Spokane, Washington, the setting for this marvelously written literary mystery. The small city itself was an interesting place of contrasts, surrounded by a beautiful and dramatic landscape. This was in the 1970's, so I imagine it has changed a great deal. However, when I was there it was in the process of trying to fit two very different life philosophies together - blue-collar, hard-working hard-drinking country/cowboy-music unstyled people with calloused hands who hoped the logging/trucking/mining/farming jobs would last and they could stay near their grandparents, and stylish long-haired educated pot-smoking rock 'n roll people who were all hoping to move to Seattle, Washington or Portland, Oregon some day because they felt Spokane was destroying them with boredom and stultifying old-fashioned thinking.
Old-fashioned vs. new methodologies are bedeviling Sergeant Alan Dupree, in his work as Spokane police detective in 2001, the current time of the novel. He has been partnered with a younger man, Chris Spivey, who has been accepted to Major Crimes, instead of his personal choice, Caroline Mabry, Special Investigations, who he had trained six years ago. Spivey is full of new methods and policing techniques. Dupree tries to lose him when he can. A lot of things are bothering him, not only Spivey and the new investigation standards. He secretly is in love with Caroline, who reluctantly refused a relationship with him, and his wife is unhappy in their marriage, apparently resenting his lack of attention. Following regulations and filling out paperwork has become more than irritating - he's getting angry and frustrated.
Caroline Mabry has never recovered from a domestic disturbance call of 6 years ago which involved a drunk husband beating his wife into pulp. When the man lunged towards her, she shot him. She isn't sure it was a good shoot since her memory and the subsequent investigation, to her, seem to barely approve of the circumstances for a good shoot - the armed attacker who threatens an officer's life in a frontal assault should be 20 feet away or less. She thinks she fired compulsively without thought, surprised and shocked, reacting in sudden fear. In her memory the husband was farther away than 20 feet when she started thinking again. Despite being cleared by the shooting review, she has had increasing corrosive doubts about her judgement in every police action, uncertain if she is making the correct moves or following correct procedure. Adding to her discomfort is her present assignment with the drug detectives. Her usual work was in property crimes, and she does not like the sneaky deception and pretense behind every drug dealer takedown, particularly the wearing of disguises.
Even though Dupree and Mabry only occasionally work together these days, and each are unaware of the other's deep depression, they are concerned by each other's visible show of internal anxieties. Both are seriously considering quitting, both feeling undermined and overwhelmed by the stresses of the job.
Fortunately, gentle reader, they decide to continue detecting for 500 pages to catch a serial killer. It's a good thing they stay on the job because no one else in the Spokane police department has a clue, especially two feuding profilers who invite themselves to the investigation when the department finally accepts that the horribly murdered rotting bodies of teen prostitutes without fingernails are victims of the same killer. Calm yourself.
Depression and doubts dogging their every step, Dupree and Mabry follow two separate threads amongst the meek and powerful, their bosses and lowlifes, while the bodies pile up.
If you feel a little embarrassed by your own quickened breathing because of how wonderful this mystery full of tawdry depravity sounds, take heart! It's also a literary novel which has sentences with which any reader can impress their more high-brow friends in the retelling. The two detectives, along with the bad guy (sorry, I'm not going to reveal who - I'll only hint things are not entirely as you may think for 450 pages) are examined with believable depths and backstory which make this a three-dimensional look at people I think the author, Jess Walter, really knew before fictionalizing.
This is good, and I recommend it for those readers who like a literary depth in their dark reading. There is a lot of character angst and not a lot of mayhem, which makes this slower paced, but there is still plenty of distress and deadly threats. However, some characters are cartoons (revenge or teasing, getting back at a real life acquaintance?), and there is a character who didn't feel right to me. The jokey ironies never felt misplaced, though. The violence is not explicit, but I never doubted the story or the action. However, I DO think perhaps these detectives should sit down with a psychologist of their choosing - but not until the end of the book...
Old-fashioned vs. new methodologies are bedeviling Sergeant Alan Dupree, in his work as Spokane police detective in 2001, the current time of the novel. He has been partnered with a younger man, Chris Spivey, who has been accepted to Major Crimes, instead of his personal choice, Caroline Mabry, Special Investigations, who he had trained six years ago. Spivey is full of new methods and policing techniques. Dupree tries to lose him when he can. A lot of things are bothering him, not only Spivey and the new investigation standards. He secretly is in love with Caroline, who reluctantly refused a relationship with him, and his wife is unhappy in their marriage, apparently resenting his lack of attention. Following regulations and filling out paperwork has become more than irritating - he's getting angry and frustrated.
Caroline Mabry has never recovered from a domestic disturbance call of 6 years ago which involved a drunk husband beating his wife into pulp. When the man lunged towards her, she shot him. She isn't sure it was a good shoot since her memory and the subsequent investigation, to her, seem to barely approve of the circumstances for a good shoot - the armed attacker who threatens an officer's life in a frontal assault should be 20 feet away or less. She thinks she fired compulsively without thought, surprised and shocked, reacting in sudden fear. In her memory the husband was farther away than 20 feet when she started thinking again. Despite being cleared by the shooting review, she has had increasing corrosive doubts about her judgement in every police action, uncertain if she is making the correct moves or following correct procedure. Adding to her discomfort is her present assignment with the drug detectives. Her usual work was in property crimes, and she does not like the sneaky deception and pretense behind every drug dealer takedown, particularly the wearing of disguises.
Even though Dupree and Mabry only occasionally work together these days, and each are unaware of the other's deep depression, they are concerned by each other's visible show of internal anxieties. Both are seriously considering quitting, both feeling undermined and overwhelmed by the stresses of the job.
Fortunately, gentle reader, they decide to continue detecting for 500 pages to catch a serial killer. It's a good thing they stay on the job because no one else in the Spokane police department has a clue, especially two feuding profilers who invite themselves to the investigation when the department finally accepts that the horribly murdered rotting bodies of teen prostitutes without fingernails are victims of the same killer. Calm yourself.
Depression and doubts dogging their every step, Dupree and Mabry follow two separate threads amongst the meek and powerful, their bosses and lowlifes, while the bodies pile up.
If you feel a little embarrassed by your own quickened breathing because of how wonderful this mystery full of tawdry depravity sounds, take heart! It's also a literary novel which has sentences with which any reader can impress their more high-brow friends in the retelling. The two detectives, along with the bad guy (sorry, I'm not going to reveal who - I'll only hint things are not entirely as you may think for 450 pages) are examined with believable depths and backstory which make this a three-dimensional look at people I think the author, Jess Walter, really knew before fictionalizing.
This is good, and I recommend it for those readers who like a literary depth in their dark reading. There is a lot of character angst and not a lot of mayhem, which makes this slower paced, but there is still plenty of distress and deadly threats. However, some characters are cartoons (revenge or teasing, getting back at a real life acquaintance?), and there is a character who didn't feel right to me. The jokey ironies never felt misplaced, though. The violence is not explicit, but I never doubted the story or the action. However, I DO think perhaps these detectives should sit down with a psychologist of their choosing - but not until the end of the book...
January 20, 2010
Serious and yet oddly whimsical serial killer mystery. This is Walter's first novel, and you can tell that there were a lot of elements he wanted to get in there—the Green River Killer and the double-edged sword of profiling and new policing vs. old and T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and even a touch of romance. I'm not sure how well it all works together; the resulting work feels a bit disjointed, not quite complete. But it's also so much more interesting and complex than the average mystery, with psychologically rich characterization and an—at least as far as I could tell—impressive level of realism to the police work. Emotionally, most of the novel feels impressively gritty and grounded in harsh truths. And yet, in the same book, there's also a random scene in a bar that, as an Eliot fan, had me spasming with joy. Bizarre combination. But fascinating and compelling, and you can see traces of the genre-blending creativity that are so evident in his later work. Much of this book has stayed with me, and it definitely left me wanting more.
February 3, 2016
After being totally wowed by the short story collection "We Live in Water" I've been working my way through Jess Walter's back catalog. "Over Tumbled Graves" is his first and it falls short of the mark set by "The Zero" and "Citizen Vince" This is a fairly typical story about a serial killer preying on prostitutes in Spokane Washington and the police officers trying to track him down. It's not that the book is bad, it's just fairly unremarkable. Walter seems to be just starting to find his voice. The black humor and sense of place that are the hallmarks of his work are here, but in a rougher form.
April 29, 2014
Finding a new author (new in the sense of my never having been exposed to him before) that I like is one of the great pleasures in life … and I definitely will be looking for novels by Jess Walter in the future. It turns out that this was Walters’ first published novel (2001), and this copy was a 2000 advanced reader’s edition (Not For Sale). This particular copy appeared on the book-swap shelf at the VA Hospital last week. Frankly, I picked it up largely because it was set in large print (although, interestingly, it does not say so) and I did not have my reading glasses with me … and the publisher’s description on the back cover really whetted my interest. I am delighted to say that this time, for once, the book really lived up to the publisher’s description!
The characters in this novel are marvelously drawn. The book is told in the omnipotent third person point of view, but we get so much insight into the thought processes of the two main characters that it feels like stream of consciousness. In addition, the author has an interesting style that keeps the action running fast and furiously, dropping representations of police reports and newspaper articles into the text as a way of jumping over all the bother of describing the associated scenes.
What really helps is that the two main protagonists are extremely complex people and the reader gets drawn into the complexity of their relationship, which is an underlying subplot of the story. The two protagonists are two detectives in the Spokane, Washington, police department: a 36-year-old spinster (not by intent) who lives with a 24-year-old college boy and takes care of her dying mother, and the 48-year-old sergeant who trained her for ten years, until he realized they were becoming too close and demanded a job transfer to get away from her for the sake of his family. The heroine, Caroline Mabry, is an attractive and introspective young woman who gets along well with people but finds problems in being the only woman on the detective team; the hero, Sgt. Alan Dupree, is equally insightful but has an irreverent sense of humor that forces him to say delightfully inappropriate things at every turn. The two of them begin this novel with a failed drug bust that ends up with the death of one of the suspects. During the follow-up investigation, another body is discovered in the park where this action was taking place. On the same day, another murder is discovered elsewhere in the city, immediately followed by still another, and then another again. Tracking down these seemingly unrelated events, the detectives soon come to realize that they are in fact related, and an FBI profiler is called in to help track down the serial killer—with a second profiler then being drawn into the action because of his antagonism concerning the first.
The story is a good read in itself, but the novel is made increasingly delightful by the sarcastic humor produced by Sgt. Dupree and the slapstick politics of the police administration, who question Sgt. Dupree’s leadership abilities and replace him as team leader with the newly graduated young officer Dupree had been training, who is smitten with both of the warring profilers. Meanwhile, Caroline goes on doing standard police work, interviewing potential witnesses and gradually coming to wonder if the whole police force is barking up the wrong tree.
I enjoy complicated plots, and this one is delightful, even if the complication comes about because we only see what the author allows us to see at each successive stage of the story, as it evolves from a drug bust into murder, then into more murders, then into serial killings, with all of the action having pronounced effects on the family relationships of those involved and being garnished with Dupree’s amusing comments and Caroline’s inner conflicts throughout. Jess Walter really is a funny guy, and his humor is sprinkled throughout the novel. In addition, he is a true word master and the book is sprinkled with allusions to history and literature revealing a superior education.
Doing a little (very little) research afterward on the author, I found that Jess Walker started as a journalist and got into the book-writing business by producing a book about the Ruby Ridge incident. (B the way, you really should look for his “How I Write” interview on the Web). He also has produced several books of short stories, along with some play scripts.
Semi-spoiler: I slammed the book closed on the last page at an hour past midnight, very upset that the ending did not turn out the way I had expected … which reminded me that life and love remain unfathomable mysteries.
The characters in this novel are marvelously drawn. The book is told in the omnipotent third person point of view, but we get so much insight into the thought processes of the two main characters that it feels like stream of consciousness. In addition, the author has an interesting style that keeps the action running fast and furiously, dropping representations of police reports and newspaper articles into the text as a way of jumping over all the bother of describing the associated scenes.
What really helps is that the two main protagonists are extremely complex people and the reader gets drawn into the complexity of their relationship, which is an underlying subplot of the story. The two protagonists are two detectives in the Spokane, Washington, police department: a 36-year-old spinster (not by intent) who lives with a 24-year-old college boy and takes care of her dying mother, and the 48-year-old sergeant who trained her for ten years, until he realized they were becoming too close and demanded a job transfer to get away from her for the sake of his family. The heroine, Caroline Mabry, is an attractive and introspective young woman who gets along well with people but finds problems in being the only woman on the detective team; the hero, Sgt. Alan Dupree, is equally insightful but has an irreverent sense of humor that forces him to say delightfully inappropriate things at every turn. The two of them begin this novel with a failed drug bust that ends up with the death of one of the suspects. During the follow-up investigation, another body is discovered in the park where this action was taking place. On the same day, another murder is discovered elsewhere in the city, immediately followed by still another, and then another again. Tracking down these seemingly unrelated events, the detectives soon come to realize that they are in fact related, and an FBI profiler is called in to help track down the serial killer—with a second profiler then being drawn into the action because of his antagonism concerning the first.
The story is a good read in itself, but the novel is made increasingly delightful by the sarcastic humor produced by Sgt. Dupree and the slapstick politics of the police administration, who question Sgt. Dupree’s leadership abilities and replace him as team leader with the newly graduated young officer Dupree had been training, who is smitten with both of the warring profilers. Meanwhile, Caroline goes on doing standard police work, interviewing potential witnesses and gradually coming to wonder if the whole police force is barking up the wrong tree.
I enjoy complicated plots, and this one is delightful, even if the complication comes about because we only see what the author allows us to see at each successive stage of the story, as it evolves from a drug bust into murder, then into more murders, then into serial killings, with all of the action having pronounced effects on the family relationships of those involved and being garnished with Dupree’s amusing comments and Caroline’s inner conflicts throughout. Jess Walter really is a funny guy, and his humor is sprinkled throughout the novel. In addition, he is a true word master and the book is sprinkled with allusions to history and literature revealing a superior education.
Doing a little (very little) research afterward on the author, I found that Jess Walker started as a journalist and got into the book-writing business by producing a book about the Ruby Ridge incident. (B the way, you really should look for his “How I Write” interview on the Web). He also has produced several books of short stories, along with some play scripts.
Semi-spoiler: I slammed the book closed on the last page at an hour past midnight, very upset that the ending did not turn out the way I had expected … which reminded me that life and love remain unfathomable mysteries.
January 8, 2013
I've been thru Spokane before. It's one of those mid-sized smaller cities like Buffalo, NY; Dearborn, MI; Springville, IL; and a city that I spent more than 10 years in, Duluth, MN. These cities (and a handful of others) had big big money when the railroad was big and when inland ports prospered. There's a certain poverty that lives in these cities that threatens to drown out the history - poverty resulting from meth, the white poor, bigger gangs moving into smaller communities, and the people that grew up in these cities know it well.
Jess Walter grew up and lived in Spokane his whole life, so I take it he knows the city like his own thumbprint. This makes this novel a little more special -it's a love song of sorts to these cities. It's a love song with brutal honesty. Add a couple great characters and an explosive story-line and this is a book to remember.
Like any novel that I end up in love with, I of course see a character I identify with. Catherine, a 36 year old cop who doesn't know why she's still in Spokane but is living her life one day at a time, is tough but is also tortured by an overly-alert, highly intelligent brain that won't stop. She's in a relationship with a much younger guy and her mom is dying of cancer.
A guy is killing prostitutes. Profilers get involved. The older cop she has a complicated relationship with, who has his own problems, is trying not to botch the investigation. The situation explodes. I thought I had the mystery part solved, but in the end I didn't even care because the humanity of the characters and of Spokane seemed to trump the mystery part. And it turns out I didn't guess the ending right, which made me love the book more.
So yeah, I don't know how I missed this one when it came out originally. So good. Read it. And thanks for such a great book, Mr. Walter. I'm not going to look at Spokane the same.
Jess Walter grew up and lived in Spokane his whole life, so I take it he knows the city like his own thumbprint. This makes this novel a little more special -it's a love song of sorts to these cities. It's a love song with brutal honesty. Add a couple great characters and an explosive story-line and this is a book to remember.
Like any novel that I end up in love with, I of course see a character I identify with. Catherine, a 36 year old cop who doesn't know why she's still in Spokane but is living her life one day at a time, is tough but is also tortured by an overly-alert, highly intelligent brain that won't stop. She's in a relationship with a much younger guy and her mom is dying of cancer.
A guy is killing prostitutes. Profilers get involved. The older cop she has a complicated relationship with, who has his own problems, is trying not to botch the investigation. The situation explodes. I thought I had the mystery part solved, but in the end I didn't even care because the humanity of the characters and of Spokane seemed to trump the mystery part. And it turns out I didn't guess the ending right, which made me love the book more.
So yeah, I don't know how I missed this one when it came out originally. So good. Read it. And thanks for such a great book, Mr. Walter. I'm not going to look at Spokane the same.
November 11, 2017
обожаю такие детективы, где будто сам сидишь с полицейскими и растягиваешь нитки от кнопки к кнопке, от подозреваемого к доказательству, где все карты на столе почти с самого начала. обожаю такие книги, где автор наблюдателен, умен и симпатизирует людям в целом и эти его личные качества сквозят в каждом персонаже, в каждом движении сюжета. обожаю, когда сюжет - повод попытаться рассказать о чем-то большем, общем в людях и их делах. про маньяков обожаю, в конце концов.
сняла бы ползвезды за немного нелогичную любовную линию, но там линии-то той, тьфу, да и в общем, что может было однозначного в отношениях, ни-че-го.
хороший детектив.
сняла бы ползвезды за немного нелогичную любовную линию, но там линии-то той, тьфу, да и в общем, что может было однозначного в отношениях, ни-че-го.
хороший детектив.
March 28, 2023
Na het lezen van een aantal flinke kleppers, heb ik mezelf getrakteerd op een ontspannende thriller.
Het was een goede keuze, het verhaal heeft een mooie plot met een verrassend einde. De karakters waren wel een beetje cliché (getormenteerde vrouwelijke detective, mannelijke collega met problemen thuis) maar goed uitgewerkt, ook in de diepte. En zoals het een goede thriller betaamt: een pageturner! De schrijver hou ik zeker in het oog, moest ik weer nood hebben aan wat literaire ontspanning.
Het was een goede keuze, het verhaal heeft een mooie plot met een verrassend einde. De karakters waren wel een beetje cliché (getormenteerde vrouwelijke detective, mannelijke collega met problemen thuis) maar goed uitgewerkt, ook in de diepte. En zoals het een goede thriller betaamt: een pageturner! De schrijver hou ik zeker in het oog, moest ik weer nood hebben aan wat literaire ontspanning.
September 22, 2011
After reading two recent impressive novels (Citizen Vince and The Zero) by Jess Walters I have decided to go back and read his first two novels. The first of which is Over Tumbled Graves. The title comes from an epigraph from T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem “The Waste Land”:
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
Over the tumbled graves.
In fact, Walters states in an interview in the back of the book that he has tried to write a parallel structure with the poem in the novel. I can’t judge whether he has achieved this aim or not, because I can’t remember the poem clearly, but I am sure that it was studied at some point in my undergraduate English literature career. However, this detail accurately identifies this as a “literary thriller.” Walters has done an admirable job of characterization in bring alive detectives Allan Dupree and Caroline Mabry not to mention humanizing the prostitute victims like Rae-Ann, which he identifies as one of his goals in the novel. He also wanted to expose the cynical economy of crime with the media, which is especially applicable to serial killers. Which brings us to another aspect of the novel that hit s home a little too close, Walters reported on several serial killer cases while working as a journalist in my hometown of Spokane: “the coin shop killer” and Cory Bartell who confessed to Walters. This confession led to his intent to personify “the banality of evil” that killers like Bartell possessed. He was angry with Walters for identifying the wrong type of baseball bat he used to kill his mother in an experiment to see if he could get away with murder. Furthermore soon after the publication of the novel Richard Yates, a killer of prostitutes in Spokane was arrested suggesting Walters had drawn from that, when in actuality it was written before. Another of Walters’s intentions was to personify the city of Spokane as the setting for the novel. I think this is an extremely successful first novel. It is philosophic, compelling, entertaining, and well written with well-developed characters. As a bonus, the P.S. edition has an interview, a back story explanation, list of recommended books, and summaries of his other books including an excerpt from his latest.
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
Over the tumbled graves.
In fact, Walters states in an interview in the back of the book that he has tried to write a parallel structure with the poem in the novel. I can’t judge whether he has achieved this aim or not, because I can’t remember the poem clearly, but I am sure that it was studied at some point in my undergraduate English literature career. However, this detail accurately identifies this as a “literary thriller.” Walters has done an admirable job of characterization in bring alive detectives Allan Dupree and Caroline Mabry not to mention humanizing the prostitute victims like Rae-Ann, which he identifies as one of his goals in the novel. He also wanted to expose the cynical economy of crime with the media, which is especially applicable to serial killers. Which brings us to another aspect of the novel that hit s home a little too close, Walters reported on several serial killer cases while working as a journalist in my hometown of Spokane: “the coin shop killer” and Cory Bartell who confessed to Walters. This confession led to his intent to personify “the banality of evil” that killers like Bartell possessed. He was angry with Walters for identifying the wrong type of baseball bat he used to kill his mother in an experiment to see if he could get away with murder. Furthermore soon after the publication of the novel Richard Yates, a killer of prostitutes in Spokane was arrested suggesting Walters had drawn from that, when in actuality it was written before. Another of Walters’s intentions was to personify the city of Spokane as the setting for the novel. I think this is an extremely successful first novel. It is philosophic, compelling, entertaining, and well written with well-developed characters. As a bonus, the P.S. edition has an interview, a back story explanation, list of recommended books, and summaries of his other books including an excerpt from his latest.
October 16, 2012
So, I read Land of the Blind before reading this, which meant I knew how certain things would go. Somehow, though, that didn't change how much I enjoyed the book. I think that really says something about the power of good writing. However, I strongly recommend reading this first!
This book follows Caroline Mabry and Alan Dupree, two police officers in the homicide unit, as they try to unravel the seemingly open-and-shut case of several murdered prostitutes, their bodies all found in the same manner. Along the way, Mabry and Dupree have problems with their respective relationships all the while struggling with the ambiguous one between them.
The book jumps every chapter to another point of view from the previous. This really keeps things interesting. It's a technique that I most recently saw in Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. In this book, though, we get to see through the eyes of a few unconventional side characters, not just the two main protagonists.
The imagery, as always with Jess Walter, is stark and evocative of some of the basest human emotions. Reading about how Mabry deals with her dying mother or her crumbling relationship enables just about anyone to relate to the woman. But one of Jess Walter's most unique abilities, I'm realizing, is making the reader acknowledge the humanity of criminals. In The Financial Lives of the Poets, we are shown how human drug traffickers are; in Land of the Blind, Walter tells us the life story, from childhood, of a man who is confessing to murder. Over Tumbled Graves drives home the fact that, while we like to think that criminals are inhuman, or maybe they are "just broken," these people have the same human desires as any of us.
Overall: read it, love it.
This book follows Caroline Mabry and Alan Dupree, two police officers in the homicide unit, as they try to unravel the seemingly open-and-shut case of several murdered prostitutes, their bodies all found in the same manner. Along the way, Mabry and Dupree have problems with their respective relationships all the while struggling with the ambiguous one between them.
The book jumps every chapter to another point of view from the previous. This really keeps things interesting. It's a technique that I most recently saw in Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. In this book, though, we get to see through the eyes of a few unconventional side characters, not just the two main protagonists.
The imagery, as always with Jess Walter, is stark and evocative of some of the basest human emotions. Reading about how Mabry deals with her dying mother or her crumbling relationship enables just about anyone to relate to the woman. But one of Jess Walter's most unique abilities, I'm realizing, is making the reader acknowledge the humanity of criminals. In The Financial Lives of the Poets, we are shown how human drug traffickers are; in Land of the Blind, Walter tells us the life story, from childhood, of a man who is confessing to murder. Over Tumbled Graves drives home the fact that, while we like to think that criminals are inhuman, or maybe they are "just broken," these people have the same human desires as any of us.
Overall: read it, love it.
April 7, 2013
I am on a Jess Walter tear. Under Tumbled Graves is the 5th book of Walter's that I have read. Yikes.
I think my addiction stems from his newspaper reporter quality. He writes with knowledge of police and crime. He's obviously an observant man. He knows his characters and he helps us know his characters. Also, he writes from Spokane, WA which is a similar town to Tacoma. I just relate to his writing and so wish someone from Tacoma could write in this same way.
This plot positions old police styles of investigation against computer data collecting, daily conferences with everyone, and expert crime profilers. There's a duo in the lead roles, the Sergeant, Alan Dupree and Caroline Mabry, special investigations detective. Sergeant Dupree is old school: gut insights and thoughtfulness. He's always cautioning himself to not jump at coincidence, to hold his patience when information starts falling into a pattern. For six years he has been working with Mabry imparting his insights and knowing that she is becoming skilled.
He does, however, dismiss his new partner, Spivey. Spivey comes in with computer fact finding skills. New ways of organizing data. The higher ups love the new. Spivey replaces Dupree. And the officers actually like the more organized style that Spivey brings. But does it help solve crime?
This plot is also about attraction. "The attraction between two people was directly proportional to their proximity to death. For cops,male and female officers were most susceptible to affairs during times of stress and danger..." It's also about an attraction that is never acted upon. How this un-acted attraction remains in the fantasies, in the emotions and never faces the diminished realities of daily life and how we are.
Oh yes, it's also about a serial killer, prostitutes and the hazards of their lifestyles, retaliation, and rage. Fortunately Walter doesn't get graphic with these crimes. It's enough that they happened. The really interesting thing truly is the detective's psychological unraveling the story. And Walter's writing places us within the psyches of the detectives.
I think my addiction stems from his newspaper reporter quality. He writes with knowledge of police and crime. He's obviously an observant man. He knows his characters and he helps us know his characters. Also, he writes from Spokane, WA which is a similar town to Tacoma. I just relate to his writing and so wish someone from Tacoma could write in this same way.
This plot positions old police styles of investigation against computer data collecting, daily conferences with everyone, and expert crime profilers. There's a duo in the lead roles, the Sergeant, Alan Dupree and Caroline Mabry, special investigations detective. Sergeant Dupree is old school: gut insights and thoughtfulness. He's always cautioning himself to not jump at coincidence, to hold his patience when information starts falling into a pattern. For six years he has been working with Mabry imparting his insights and knowing that she is becoming skilled.
He does, however, dismiss his new partner, Spivey. Spivey comes in with computer fact finding skills. New ways of organizing data. The higher ups love the new. Spivey replaces Dupree. And the officers actually like the more organized style that Spivey brings. But does it help solve crime?
This plot is also about attraction. "The attraction between two people was directly proportional to their proximity to death. For cops,male and female officers were most susceptible to affairs during times of stress and danger..." It's also about an attraction that is never acted upon. How this un-acted attraction remains in the fantasies, in the emotions and never faces the diminished realities of daily life and how we are.
Oh yes, it's also about a serial killer, prostitutes and the hazards of their lifestyles, retaliation, and rage. Fortunately Walter doesn't get graphic with these crimes. It's enough that they happened. The really interesting thing truly is the detective's psychological unraveling the story. And Walter's writing places us within the psyches of the detectives.
December 9, 2014
This is a great mystery by one of my favorite authors. I can't believe I'd never heard of him until I saw his new short story collection We Live in Water on the new book shelf at my local library. Since that one I've read 5 more, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. This one is pure suspense, with plenty of surprises in the last third of the book. The plot and pacing are excellent, and the story never gets tired. The characters are multi-dimensional and full of life. I love Mr. Walter's writing style. Constantly I find sentences that I have to reread several times for the enjoyment of their depth, like listening to a good song over and over. Next up is Citizen Vince which I can not wait to read! Thanks to my wife for bringing this home for me from Half-Price Books.
July 26, 2013
I read and enjoy well written mystery/suspense novels but many of them just run together after a while. I really liked this distinctive, first-rate thriller. After reading all of the positive plugs about Beautiful Ruins by the same author, I decided to check this one out. In contrast to the many over-the-top detectives in other recent crime dramas, these were believable…sometimes cynical and often overworked, frustrated and full of personal uncertainties. Dupree, one of the investigators, is especially likeable as he provides much comic relief in an otherwise sober police procedural about a search for a serial killer. This is an outstanding whodunit, a cut above the average.
May 22, 2021
With an upcoming trip to Spokane I figured I read a novel set there. I ended up reading one about a serial killer menacing Spokane. Not the best choice maybe, but it made for a great read nonetheless.
The book itself gave what I thought was an accurate description of the city from the time I have spent there before, warts and all. The book falls into the genre that I don't care for all that much, but overall I'm impressed and surprised with the quality of "Over Tumbled Graves." This book should have received more attention. There was a quote on the cover about how it explores the battle of good vs. evil on "very human terms." So, I thought it was going to be just as cliche as any other detective crime thriller where it asks the reader: "are the police really a force of good?" only for the plot structure to pretty much say yes every time. I don't feel I need to explain more.
Walter kind of did that in his novel, but the other ideas explored are what made it a worthwhile read. In it, he explores the fault in relying on profiling based on historical and psychological evidence, sexism in detective work, as well as the ongoing commodification of crime. That commodification of crime extending to serial killers, with the public's obsession and media rearing them into household names even decades after the killings. Unfortunately, Walter lacks some subtlety espousing those ideas, but I would say it's typical of the genre to an extent.
My only other complaint is an incomplete-feeling ending. I turned the page expecting more after I read the last sentence, but it just ended with a door being closed on the protagonist in a place that wasn't really significant in the plot. Not a cliffhanger or that symbolic. A door closed is a way to end, but I feel like I missed the point. What that point was supposed to be I don't know. If anything, it represented the occasional disjointed feeling this novel provoked in me that I won't get into in this review.
In spite of the faults, this ended up being one of my favorite reads this year.
The book itself gave what I thought was an accurate description of the city from the time I have spent there before, warts and all. The book falls into the genre that I don't care for all that much, but overall I'm impressed and surprised with the quality of "Over Tumbled Graves." This book should have received more attention. There was a quote on the cover about how it explores the battle of good vs. evil on "very human terms." So, I thought it was going to be just as cliche as any other detective crime thriller where it asks the reader: "are the police really a force of good?" only for the plot structure to pretty much say yes every time. I don't feel I need to explain more.
Walter kind of did that in his novel, but the other ideas explored are what made it a worthwhile read. In it, he explores the fault in relying on profiling based on historical and psychological evidence, sexism in detective work, as well as the ongoing commodification of crime. That commodification of crime extending to serial killers, with the public's obsession and media rearing them into household names even decades after the killings. Unfortunately, Walter lacks some subtlety espousing those ideas, but I would say it's typical of the genre to an extent.
My only other complaint is an incomplete-feeling ending. I turned the page expecting more after I read the last sentence, but it just ended with a door being closed on the protagonist in a place that wasn't really significant in the plot. Not a cliffhanger or that symbolic. A door closed is a way to end, but I feel like I missed the point. What that point was supposed to be I don't know. If anything, it represented the occasional disjointed feeling this novel provoked in me that I won't get into in this review.
In spite of the faults, this ended up being one of my favorite reads this year.
April 12, 2020
I am a Jess Walter fan. Most of his other books are complete winners for me. This book, not so much.
It is possible that since I read this book while studying a Financial Analyses text book I am a little biased against any writing that is not dialog driven. Reading the text book was akin to reading Romanian through a mason jar of thick maple syrup and so, I turned to Walter for an escape. This book was not as difficult to read as the finance text, thankfully. It was, however short on dialog as Walter chose to paint on a canvas of inner motives and private thoughts.
I can not say this book is not well written. I suppose it is. But the story never grabbed me. I never really cared what was happening or to whom it was happening. Generally speaking, if I find myself flipping to the last page to see how many pages are left, I'm not that engaged in the book. I was quite ready to reach the end long before the half way mark.
Surely the problem here is me. In my mind, one chooses a writer much like one chooses a cheeseburger restaurant. Sesame, here is Charleston, serves up the best gourmet cheeseburger I've ever tried. Were I to be served a vaguely tasteless, microwaved, mass-produced "almost burger" like those at McDonald's, I would be most disappointed. To put a bow on this ramble, Walter is a Sesame. This book is McDonald's fare.
The title is brilliant. The twist in the denouement is satisfying. The in-between is lacking the careful seasoning that I've come to expect from this author.
It is possible that since I read this book while studying a Financial Analyses text book I am a little biased against any writing that is not dialog driven. Reading the text book was akin to reading Romanian through a mason jar of thick maple syrup and so, I turned to Walter for an escape. This book was not as difficult to read as the finance text, thankfully. It was, however short on dialog as Walter chose to paint on a canvas of inner motives and private thoughts.
I can not say this book is not well written. I suppose it is. But the story never grabbed me. I never really cared what was happening or to whom it was happening. Generally speaking, if I find myself flipping to the last page to see how many pages are left, I'm not that engaged in the book. I was quite ready to reach the end long before the half way mark.
Surely the problem here is me. In my mind, one chooses a writer much like one chooses a cheeseburger restaurant. Sesame, here is Charleston, serves up the best gourmet cheeseburger I've ever tried. Were I to be served a vaguely tasteless, microwaved, mass-produced "almost burger" like those at McDonald's, I would be most disappointed. To put a bow on this ramble, Walter is a Sesame. This book is McDonald's fare.
The title is brilliant. The twist in the denouement is satisfying. The in-between is lacking the careful seasoning that I've come to expect from this author.
September 10, 2018
Voorkant past bij het verhaal.
Ik vond het boek af en toe wat saai. Op de een of andere manier kwam ik niet goed in het verhaal. 2 rechercheurs die om elkaar heendraaien en een aantal moorden, wellicht een seriemoordenaar. Genoeg ingrediënten voor een spannend geheel. 2,5 ster.
Ik vond het boek af en toe wat saai. Op de een of andere manier kwam ik niet goed in het verhaal. 2 rechercheurs die om elkaar heendraaien en een aantal moorden, wellicht een seriemoordenaar. Genoeg ingrediënten voor een spannend geheel. 2,5 ster.
April 13, 2023
The reason Jess Walter's 2001 crime thriller is so unforgettable is that he manages, at every turn, to go in an unexpected direction. From the two main characters: a female and male cop, to the bickering serial killer profilers, to what the solution to the string of prostitute murders turns out to be, nothing here is predictable. Like the best genre writing, Over Tumbled Graves is original from beginning to end. - BH.
May 21, 2018
I can't think of anything clever to write about this.
October 6, 2018
It's so boring and predictable, I don't even know why I finished it. All characters are forgettable, the so-called love story is ridiculous, huge amount of scenes made no sense, and there were literally only one person except the cops who could have been a suspect. Arghhh.
September 16, 2023
Too much time spent exploring the complicated lives of the detectives.
June 24, 2014
I read Beautiful Ruins last summer and was so enthralled by (a) Jess Walter's prose and (b) the fact that he's from Spokane and sets some of his novels there that I promptly added pretty much everything he's ever written to my to-read list. It's just taken me a little while to get to it. After reading this one, I already have a library request in for the second Caroline Mabry novel, Land of the Blind. I think I'll be reading a lot of Jess Walter this summer.
A drug-bust gone bad turns into a homicide and the discovery of a murdered prostitute. As more bodies turn up, it becomes obvious there's a serial killer loose in Spokane. The FBI gets involved along with two serial killer profiling experts -- one who still works for the FBI and another who was apparently fired and has turned celebrity. Walter weaves a lot of dark humor into this taut detective novel, much of it based on these rival so-called experts.
The central character of the novel is Detective Caroline Mabry, who is dealing with plenty of issues in her personal life without the added complication of the prime suspect apparently stalking her. The city of Spokane is also a character in itself, coming to life on the page.
I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars. To me, a 5 star rating means I wouldn't change a single thing about the book. There's a very odd romance that just didn't ring true to me and I think the book would have been better without it. But the ending was just perfect. So I'll call it 4.5 stars and round up.
A drug-bust gone bad turns into a homicide and the discovery of a murdered prostitute. As more bodies turn up, it becomes obvious there's a serial killer loose in Spokane. The FBI gets involved along with two serial killer profiling experts -- one who still works for the FBI and another who was apparently fired and has turned celebrity. Walter weaves a lot of dark humor into this taut detective novel, much of it based on these rival so-called experts.
The central character of the novel is Detective Caroline Mabry, who is dealing with plenty of issues in her personal life without the added complication of the prime suspect apparently stalking her. The city of Spokane is also a character in itself, coming to life on the page.
I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars. To me, a 5 star rating means I wouldn't change a single thing about the book. There's a very odd romance that just didn't ring true to me and I think the book would have been better without it. But the ending was just perfect. So I'll call it 4.5 stars and round up.
February 29, 2016
I had never heard of Jess Walter, but when my Goodreads friend Erin listed his Citizen Vince as "To Read", I became interested in that book so did a little research on Walter then decided I wanted to read all of his books starting with the first, Over Tumbled Graves.
I joined Goodreads to get good ideas for what to read next. This was one of those serendipitous, validating choices: I loved Over Tumbled Graves! Unlike a much more recent former journalist's first foray into fiction (Paula Hawkins' Girl on a Train), this book is very well written and a true page-turner all the way through.
Lead characters Caroline Mabry and Alan Dupree are terrific characters, colorful, flawed, richly imagined, and real. There are plenty of believable minor characters with personality traits and quirks enough to keep them from being cookie-cutter characters. Lenny Ryan, the prime suspect, is written with great care and sensitivity. There are enough probable suspects, misdirection, and plot twists to keep even seasoned armchair detectives guessing right up to the end of the book. Walter offers generous amounts of insight into all the major characters' thought processes, philosophies, and motivations. I think the best thing I can say about Over Tumbled Graves is that it's so very humane and real. I felt like I was reading about real people and events. And yes, I know these kinds of real people and events; I work in the criminal justice industry. Walter's journalistic training and experience served him very well in writing this book. I can't wait to start Caroline Mabry #2, Land of the Blind. In fact, I've already downloaded the ebook from my local library and am powering up my Paperwhite now...
I joined Goodreads to get good ideas for what to read next. This was one of those serendipitous, validating choices: I loved Over Tumbled Graves! Unlike a much more recent former journalist's first foray into fiction (Paula Hawkins' Girl on a Train), this book is very well written and a true page-turner all the way through.
Lead characters Caroline Mabry and Alan Dupree are terrific characters, colorful, flawed, richly imagined, and real. There are plenty of believable minor characters with personality traits and quirks enough to keep them from being cookie-cutter characters. Lenny Ryan, the prime suspect, is written with great care and sensitivity. There are enough probable suspects, misdirection, and plot twists to keep even seasoned armchair detectives guessing right up to the end of the book. Walter offers generous amounts of insight into all the major characters' thought processes, philosophies, and motivations. I think the best thing I can say about Over Tumbled Graves is that it's so very humane and real. I felt like I was reading about real people and events. And yes, I know these kinds of real people and events; I work in the criminal justice industry. Walter's journalistic training and experience served him very well in writing this book. I can't wait to start Caroline Mabry #2, Land of the Blind. In fact, I've already downloaded the ebook from my local library and am powering up my Paperwhite now...
February 23, 2017
Ամերիկյան կոնկերտ էս դեդեկտիվը շատ նման է իրենց սերիալներին, ոնց որ template լինի` մի տեսակ շատ ավտոմատացված է ամեն ինչ: ՄԻ կողմից , թվում է, ամեն ինչ կա` հերոսներ, հոգեբանական նկարագրություններ, սպանություններ, կասկած, բայց միևնույն է` կարդալուց հետո հասկանում ես, որ մի տեսակ junk food էր:
January 5, 2020
This was hyped up to me and I can appreciate why: the running commentary on crime as media phenomenon and serial killers as celebrities and the portrayal of the screwedupness of police, in general, is notable. The main character, Caroline, participates in two instances of police brutality, other major character , and of course . At the same time, Caroline's positioning as the only named female member of the police force situates her to see that all the men in the force do is measure their dicks, refuse accountability, harass women, and lie to protect their masculine egos. At the end of the day, it's not really accurate to say that serial killers are psychological aberrations when most men are misogynists.
That being said, the subplots involving the cops' personal lives (such as the one about Caroline's mom) were often poorly integrated into the rest of the book and cheesy. The central romance was not enjoyable. The 1990s-style race blindness is extremely noticeable and has not aged well. Finally, I wish that Walter had recognized benevolent misogyny (?) as a form of misogyny as how it contributes to men's senses of masculinity and not left it uninterrogated when it is, in fact, an essential component to the plot.
That being said, the subplots involving the cops' personal lives (such as the one about Caroline's mom) were often poorly integrated into the rest of the book and cheesy. The central romance was not enjoyable. The 1990s-style race blindness is extremely noticeable and has not aged well. Finally, I wish that Walter had recognized benevolent misogyny (?) as a form of misogyny as how it contributes to men's senses of masculinity and not left it uninterrogated when it is, in fact, an essential component to the plot.
April 29, 2013
After falling in love with "The Financial Lives of the Poets," being confused by "The Zero" and reading "Beautiful Ruins," to which no other book I read after that could compare, I've decided to read all Walter's books.
This one was a good, fast-paced story. For his first novel, it's not bad. The characters are relatively stock, and the relationship quandary is overused. But like Walter does in everything else he writes, he turns stereotypes and stock story lines and characters into something more. Now no more of this, on to "Land of the Blind!"
This one was a good, fast-paced story. For his first novel, it's not bad. The characters are relatively stock, and the relationship quandary is overused. But like Walter does in everything else he writes, he turns stereotypes and stock story lines and characters into something more. Now no more of this, on to "Land of the Blind!"
September 18, 2013
I enjoyed this early Jess Walter novel. It is pretty much in the crime fiction/police procedural genre, only better. You can see the attention played to character and ideas, in addition to plotting, that comes to full fruition in his later novels in this vein - Citizen Vince and The Zero.
February 16, 2015
More like a 3.5, but it's Jess Walter so I'm rounding up.
This was his first novel. Interesting to see his progress from then to now. I truly think this man can write anything. Literary crime thriller. Good story, good writing, just really dark. If you're not a fan of Jess Walter - AND YOU SHOULD BE - but like crime writers like Michael Connelly, then I say give this one a try.
This was his first novel. Interesting to see his progress from then to now. I truly think this man can write anything. Literary crime thriller. Good story, good writing, just really dark. If you're not a fan of Jess Walter - AND YOU SHOULD BE - but like crime writers like Michael Connelly, then I say give this one a try.
April 4, 2015
It's so exciting to find a great author you haven't known about before! I will be reading more of Jess Walter's books. My thanks to Well Read .
August 7, 2018
This is the perfect book for someone that has read a ton of police procedurals and gripes that they're too "same-y". Walter starts down that road but by the halfway point he's subverting some tropes and dissecting others, exposing them to the light. I haven't read enough murder mysteries to do it justice in this review, but I'll try.
Caroline Mabry is a new-ish detective that finds herself in the middle of a serial murder case. Along with her philosophical mentor and a technologically savvy greenhorn, they hunt down a killer who is offing prostitutes and hiding their bodies after rubber banding some money to their hand.
When the body count starts to rise Mabry is sent to consult with Blanton, an expert profiler of legend. He reminded me in some ways of Robert Ressler in that he's known for getting into the minds of men who commit these heinous acts over and over again.
Blanton is not too happy that a woman has been sent, as:
In other words, something about raping and killing people is inherently male, a fantasy that every guy harbors in some part of his (hopefully subconscious) brain.
Disturbing, no?
Blanton continues in this vein, echoing stuff that I've read in nonfic about profilers and remaining very disturbing. By framing the book from a female detective's perspective the unease settles in our bones, and I may never look at serial killer cases the same way again.
It bothers Mabry that the victims are seen as a collection of clues and not people - the number dead matters more than who they were. She concentrates on those killed in stead of blindly following the profilers on her way to solving the case.
Walter made me think about serial killer literature in a new way. If you're well read in the genre I'm sure you'll find more flipped and subverted tropes than I did. On top of that the writing is a cut above and Spokane, or more accurately its waterways, is a character itself.
Plotty with well-characterized protagonists and much to mull over, Over Tumbled Graves is a heckuva book and is perfect for my Serial Killer Summer. I'm looking forward to returning to it once I have more murder mysteries under my literary belt.
Caroline Mabry is a new-ish detective that finds herself in the middle of a serial murder case. Along with her philosophical mentor and a technologically savvy greenhorn, they hunt down a killer who is offing prostitutes and hiding their bodies after rubber banding some money to their hand.
When the body count starts to rise Mabry is sent to consult with Blanton, an expert profiler of legend. He reminded me in some ways of Robert Ressler in that he's known for getting into the minds of men who commit these heinous acts over and over again.
Blanton is not too happy that a woman has been sent, as:
"I’ve never met a woman who contributed much to these kinds of cases. Fortunately for them, they don’t have the capacity for understanding this type of killer, for understanding the fantasy."
In other words, something about raping and killing people is inherently male, a fantasy that every guy harbors in some part of his (hopefully subconscious) brain.
Disturbing, no?
"Maybe there were no monsters. Maybe every man who looked at a Penthouse was essentially embarking on the same path that ended with some guy beating a woman to death and violating her with a lug wrench. No wonder Blanton was dubious of Caroline’s role in the investigation. If she couldn’t imagine the violent fantasy, what could she imagine? The victim. The fear. And what good were those?"
Blanton continues in this vein, echoing stuff that I've read in nonfic about profilers and remaining very disturbing. By framing the book from a female detective's perspective the unease settles in our bones, and I may never look at serial killer cases the same way again.
It bothers Mabry that the victims are seen as a collection of clues and not people - the number dead matters more than who they were. She concentrates on those killed in stead of blindly following the profilers on her way to solving the case.
Walter made me think about serial killer literature in a new way. If you're well read in the genre I'm sure you'll find more flipped and subverted tropes than I did. On top of that the writing is a cut above and Spokane, or more accurately its waterways, is a character itself.
Eventually, the water prevails, even in cities of the dead. Eventually, the water comes for us all, washes over the statues and through the crypts, topples the headstones and tumbles the graves.
Plotty with well-characterized protagonists and much to mull over, Over Tumbled Graves is a heckuva book and is perfect for my Serial Killer Summer. I'm looking forward to returning to it once I have more murder mysteries under my literary belt.
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