Falcon’s Bend Case Files Volume II-Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler

Falcon’s Bend Case Files Volume II
Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler
Lulu, 2009, $15.00 (print); $5.99 (download)
ISBN: 9780578031095
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/falcons-bend-case-files-volume-ii/7333564

“Murder on the Heartstrings”. Police Lieutenant Pete Shasta promises his wife Lisa that their celebration of her birthday and Valentines Day will include no investigations. Upon arrival at the Honeymoon Haven Inn, they are greeted by a blizzard and the murder of the hotel masseuse.

“Flashback”. Police Lieutenant Danny and his wife Melody Vincent prepare a nursery for the child they are expecting when Lucinda Staub, missing for seven months, arrives. Her frightened husband Ryan refuses to allow her back into their home; insisting she has fought and defeated the devil; Danny investigates what happened to Lucinda.

“Double Take”. Police officers and lovers Amber Carfi and Warren Jensen investigate the theft of a valuable painting stolen from the Brooks Gallery. To the shock of the cops and the owner Victor Brooks, the brazen thief returns the next day to purloin two more paintings.

“ Retribution”. Lisa and Melody are not thrilled that their spouses ogle the hot Latina, six foot plus neighbor Cassandra Delicia. When Cassandra vanishes leaving behind her two young children Chastity and Owen, Lisa, depressed over the loss of her unborn child, investigates the vanishing while watching over the kids.

“Up in Smoke”. With Melody in labor, Pete teams with Sergeant Jeff Chopp to investigate a robbery and arson at Mitchell Ferrara’s Christmas tree farm that is now out of business for the season due to the fire.

“Ghost of the Past”. Amber looks forward to enjoying the evening with Warren; she stops for take-out at the Rainbow Café only to have Ericka Callister claim a teen is stalking her. Amber knows in 1989 sixteen years old Ericka gave birth to a son she wrapped inside a pillowcase and tossed into a dumpster; he survived so Amber wonders if it is he?

The return to Falcon’s Bend for six more cases is a terrific anthology that looks deep into the lives of cops and their significant others as each thrives for normalcy while also conducting investigations into the abnormal behavior of criminals.

Harriet Klausner