Bitch Creek

William G. Tapply
The Lyons Press (2004)
ISBN 1592287654
Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (7/06)


Stonewall Jackson Calhoun is a man without a past. He has no recollection of anything that happened in his life before he woke up in a Virginia Hospital. He was told things like where he was born and who his parents were and that he was divorced.  But none of that told Stoney what kind of man he was and what he did to make a living. When Stoney left the hospital he was pulled to Maine, something told him that was the place for him to be. He had money in his pocket and more was deposited in an account for him every month, where the money came from he did not know. Stoney heads out to Maine and ends up in a little town called Dublin. He finds the perfect piece of land and decides to build a house on it. One day as he was working a young man came up and introduced himself as Lyle McMahan.  Stoney hired him to help him build his house, when they were not working they were fishing. Lyle knew all kinds of good out of the way places. The two became very good friends. Around this time Stoney also met Kate Balaban.  She owned a bait and tackle shop and hired Stoney to work for her. They decided to also offer guided fishing trips, when Kate was looking for another guide Stoney told her about Lyle and she hired him.

Five years later Stoney was working in the shop when an older gentleman came in and wanted a fishing guide. Stoney did not care for him and called Lyle to come and take the man out. But, the next day Lyle had not shown up at home or his girlfriends and Stoney got worried. With a feeling of dread Stoney started investigating what happened to Lyle. After several days he found Lyle's body in a pond, he had drowned. There was no sign of the man he took fishing. Stoney decides it is his fault that Lyle is dead, since he should have taken the man instead. He throws himself into finding out the truth about what happened that day. During this time he gets the feeling that he must have been in law enforcement of some kind.  Stoney questions many people and starts putting pieces of the puzzle together. With Kate's help they catch the men who killed Lyle and learn why they did it. Of course there is much more to the story but you will have to read the book to find out what.

Mr. Tapply did a great job with descriptions and dialogue, it is a book that does not want to be put down. It draws you into the story and you just have to keep going to find out what will happen next. Even though a lot of the book talks about fly fishing and different flies, it would still be interesting to anyone.

I really enjoyed this book very much and would look for more of Mr. Tapply's books. "Bitch Creek" is a laid back mystery that grabs you and won't let go.

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