Chez Paradise

Gerard Murrin
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2011)
ISBN 9781934759523
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/10) 

It all started so well. The villa that they, five long-time friends, rented in the Sonoma Valley for a long weekend of eating, socializing and wine tasting, was just plain gorgeous, or according to one of them quite “frickin’ fantastic.” The weather was wonderful, the impending drinking adventures were beckoning, and everybody was hungry, so they decided to go out for dinner and pick up some groceries for the future evenings, reasoning that they will have so much fun at the villa that they will not want to leave it every night.  Off they went, spending a pleasant evening in town, only to return and find out that during their short absence the villa caught on fire and they will be forced to seek other accommodations.  The ensuing, rather comical, endeavors are soon overshadowed by the disappearance of one of the five friends, Jessica Kelly. To make matters worse, the authorities are disinclined to take this case of a missing person seriously, and decide that the five probably torched the villa themselves. Knowing this is not so, the friends decide to take matters into their own hands, aided solely by a retired and out-of-shape police detective Armond Wilson. Will they be able to find Jessica? What evil forces are at work in this seemingly idyllic location?

While there is no denying that the author has vivid imagination and a knack for telling a story, I was unable to really get into this one. It was difficult for me to figure out what exactly prevented me from enjoying it more than I did, and after re-reading several passages I decided that this particular type of humor simply was not appealing to me. By the second time Volkman was labeled as “nickel dick,” I was about ready to give it up. While I am sure there are people out there who communicate this way, the whole shtick sounded like frat humor to me. I also found the story slow-paced in spite of all the action packed in it, and in several parts I found myself quite bored with all the minutiae. Added to this were several editing issues, mainly somewhat erratic punctuation (“I’m glad you called Wilson because I wanted to talk to you.” – But it was Wilson who called, so…) and a few “points to ponder,” such as what in the world were “fraulines of his youth”.  I think I got that one figured out though, they must have been young ladies (Fräulein) ...

That does not mean that the book was bad, or even poorly written, it simply was not one that I could truly connect with. I would nevertheless recommend it for lovers of suspense, particularly those who do not mind the somewhat abrasive type of dark humor that abounds in “Chez Paradise.”

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