Murder at Rat Alley by Mark de Castrique

PARI is the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. Sitting deep in the Pisgah National Forest SW of Asheville. Started out as a NASA site for keeping in touch with the Apollo program. After NASA, it became part of an intelligence gathering network where Russia and the US were tapping the other’s communications. With the end of the cold war, it became a research setting for astronomers. And with that come the alien nuts and conspiracy wackos. Asheville is ground zero for alien watchers (all that is true).

The hot dry summer means forest fires. And one is dangerously close to PARI. Firefighters use a bulldoze to dig in a fire line around PARI. In the process, a skeleton is dug up. When something like surfaces, law enforcement assumes the worst until proven otherwise. The Asheville ME’s first observation is murder given the gaping slash across the back of the skull.

Sam Blackman is a veteran of Afghanistan, minus his lower left leg. He partners with Nakayla Robertson in a PI business. They are lunching with a colorful bunch of locals, including a latter-day hippie/defense attorney and a few from his office. When Sam brings up the skeleton, the lawyer’s paralegal Cory goes pale, saying, ‘It’s him.’

‘Him’ would be her uncle she never met, Frank DeMille. He used to work at the PARI site in its Apollo days, but just fell off the face of the earth in 1971. DNA from her and the skeleton reveal the connection. Now they must tell her aunt and Frank’s sister up in Roanoke. Sam, Nakayla, and Cory drive up there. During the conversation, we learn that the sister’s husband, an army intelligence officer, were good friends. And that the officer died in Vietnam within a month of Frank’s disappearance.

Frank also had a girlfriend. A local mountain girl who worked at PARI site when it was with NASA. Her family wasn’t happy. Not one bit. Didn’t like that an outsider had taken up with her. And that’s not all. Given the location of the find and what it was used for when Frank disappeared makes for jurisdictional nightmare with local, county, state, and feds trying to work in an uneasy alliance. The cops are focused on the family. But Max and Nakayla do what every good PI should do. Follow the evidence no matter where it goes.

And it goes all over the place. Charlotte, Raleigh, Army chief warrant officers, Vietnam records, Putin (really?), alien abduction theorists, mountain family musicians, local bars and alleys, and (something I’d never heard of) the National Centers for Environmental Information (THE place for weather information. Their data storage facility is measured in the petrabytes – that’s a lot).

Wow. That’s a lot for a small book (6x9 inches, 252 pages) and yet the story doesn’t seem forced or cluttered. I read that the author has 40 years of production experience in theater and Hollywood. Obviously, that experience works because de Cristique is a very good storyteller.

I was at the local library picking up an interlibrary loan item and took a few minutes to stroll through the racks. Lots of options, but nothing that couldn’t wait. Noticed a new section promoting NC authors. Now I’m a sucker for NC authors so I glanced at some titles. Saw several books by de Castrique. Mysteries. That’s good. PI stories. Even better. All based in Asheville. SOLD! Asheville is one of my favorite places in the US. Then I see that this story spends a lot of time at PARI, the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, which is off a winding mountain road near Rosman/Brevard/Balsom Grove, NC, maybe a half hour from Asheville. All places I’ve been when camping and hiking while on the prowl for waterfalls. Familiar terrain. I checked it out.

I really liked this book. The setting was a delight. Easily identifiable characters. A smart and complex plot. And just enough ‘wink-wink’ dialogue to make it all more realistic. De Castrique was a chance find that will give me plenty of options when I find myself between books and looking for something comfortable. With around 20 novels to his credit, I don’t think I’ll be lacking for options.

Next time I’m camping in Pisgah, a side trip to PARI will be a must.

Risky Undertaking by Mark de Castrique

Like most any small mountain town, the locals are involved in a number of ways to scratch out a living. For example, the local real estate developer, mayor, and insurance salesman of Gainesville, NC are all partners in a cemetery. And they are excited to have added some neighboring acreage. When opening the ground for their first burial, some Cherokee artifacts are unearthed as well as human remains. That sets in motion of series of state mandates regarding native American relics. The mandates involve local law, archeologists, historians, Cherokee tribal council as well as some federal oversight. 

The find also triggers some protests from Cherokee nation. Native activists protest the potential desecration of hallowed ground to the point of disrupting the planned funeral. Upon approach to the burial, the widower assaults Jimmy Panther, the leader of the leader of the protest. But the burial, in another part of the old cemetery, goes on. 

Problem is that the next morning, Jimmy Panther is found sprawled on the fresh grave with a bullet hole in his head. Sheriff Tommy Lee Watkins and his deputy Barry Clayton start their investigation with the obvious suspect, the grieving widower. 

That appears to go nowhere despite one obvious lie. Barry, who also has 2 jobs (deputy sheriff and 2nd generation undertaker - thus his nickname Buryin’ Barry), follows up on the lie and Jimmy Panther’s background that leads to Cherokee, NC. An old Vietnam buddy (and current Boston detective) of Sheriff Tommy Lee shows up while tracking a Boston-based hit man. And a 12-year old Cherokee boy seems to have run off into the mountains. 

What appears on the surface to be entirely unconnected issues eventually come to be tied together where the low hanging fruit are the lucrative construction contracts for a new proposed casino to compete with the current sole Cherokee-owned operation. Jimmy Panther and his #2 end up dead (and one openly presented clue that I will bet every reader misses) bringing unsuspected perps up the ranking of suspects.

A couple weeks ago, my local library set up a table of NC authors where I found JD Rhoades latest book. When I picked up another book at the library, I looked at the table again and thought the jacket blurb was interesting enough to pick up this book. I was pleasantly surprised at the skill of de Castrique to wind numerous clues that really looked like they could’ve happened into a coherent and complex narrative. Characters were fleshed out in such a way that they could actually be real people in a small town and not some former Delta killer leading a quiet life or some other unlikely backstory. Not a long book, 250 pages, that was a decent diversion for a couple days. What surprised me a bit is that this is the 6th Buryin’ Barry novel (all have the term ‘undertaking’ in the title) to go along with 9 other titles. Obviously, de Castrique has a loyal following. I think I just might return when I find a lull and need a well thought out mystery. 

East Coast Don